


Trapped

by ShutUpAndPaddle



Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 15:19:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/640248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShutUpAndPaddle/pseuds/ShutUpAndPaddle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Horatio has found himself in a distressing situation with the woman he loves but will they come out at the end of it mentally and physically unharmed? She begins to let Horatio into her past, but is it what he had thought it was?</p><p>Story 8</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Roughly a month and 3 weeks had passed after the shooting and neither of them had received any more threatening messages, but they both knew he wouldn’t give up so easily. Horatio and Zoë were still in their relationship, but they hadn’t moved forward just yet, but were very happy at the stage they were at. The truth is that they were both afraid of pushing the other into something they didn’t want to do, the both of them knew the other had been though a lot when it came to relationships and weren’t sure where the boundaries were. They both wanted to move forward, it was just the initiation of that movement that they needed a nudge with. The communication between the two of them was usually faultless, but when it came to moving forward, neither wanted to suggest it. Despite that they both felt very relaxed around each other, which is something they had a problem with around others, they could completely be themselves around each other and not feel self-conscious.   
It still hadn’t been announced as they hadn’t gotten round to it and no-one had asked. Not even Ryan had questioned, he’d noticed that they’d look at each other slightly differently every now and then, but thought nothing of it. Both Horatio and Zoë had decided that when they were on the job, their relationship would have to be professional only, they couldn’t chance it getting in the way of the cases.   
Horatio, however, was trying to overcome one of his greatest fears, losing Zoë; just like so many he’s lost along the way. He was certain one more death in his life of someone he loved and cared for would push him over the edge. All he wanted to do was keep Zoë from working and protect her every minute of her life, but he knew that it was completely ridiculous and could never happen, even in the most ideal world. He often had thoughts on whether to suggest moving her to desk work just so she was out of the immediate danger that they come up against every single day, but knew that it wouldn’t go down well.   
When she was out in the field, it was the time Horatio’s thoughts would grow wild, sometimes disrupting his thoughts on the case in hand so he could keep an eye on her and any potential threat that ever came close to her. But every time he thought of bringing the change of job up with her, he thought ‘who am I to keep her from living her life?’ but he always quickly combated the question with a barrage of answers, his need to protect her was overwhelming along with his need for her to be a part of his life. He knew that his obsession for protecting her was excessive, but even the thought of losing her would blow his emotions out of proportion.   
She quite often asked him if there was anything bothering him when she saw this happening, but he blamed the job in fear of pushing her away. He knew that his thoughts were unreasonable and foolish; he couldn’t share those thoughts with her because he thought she wouldn’t understand his need to protect her so. Weirdly, these thoughts seemed to disperse when he was with her at home, although the worry still lay at the back of his mind, it wasn’t half as influential on his emotions and thoughts. She had that special quality of easing his erratic thoughts or worries – something Horatio needed otherwise he’d think himself into oblivion. He knew that he had become physically more protective of her whether she had noticed he didn’t know. He’d often place himself between her and any potential threat, be it that the threat is another man eyeing her up to a loud suspect or between her and a criminal yielding a weapon. She often stepped away from his attempt to shield her which stressed him out somewhat but he knew it was just her and that she probably didn’t even realise she was doing it. She didn’t like it when he stood in front of her, but liked to stand close to him and that was something he was very grateful for, he’d like to feel her close. What he didn’t realise was that he was slipping into the sense that feeling her close was a given. He’d noticed that she’d stand close to him, but he also knew that she’d stand close to Ryan also. He’d noticed this a few months back and just assumed that she felt comfortable with them. Ryan hadn’t noticed how she’d stand close to Horatio, he was more focused on the fact that she’d stand close to him. She didn’t even realise she was doing it most of the time, however, Ryan took this as a signal that she was beginning to like him.

The team had finished work for the day after a hot and busy Tuesday.   
Zoë had gone for a run after work and then took a shower before she went out and got a Chinese. ‘How healthy… at least my run has already eaten up some of those calories.’ She thought as she drove back and parked up on Horatio’s drive. ‘I bet he’s working still.’ She thought to herself as she got out after picking her handbag up and the Chinese. She knocked on his door and he answered looking a little stressed.  
“Hey handsome, everything okay?” She asked noticing the stressed look on his face.  
“Hello beautiful, yes all is well. Come in.” He said as a smile appeared across his face, all of his stress began to disappear just seeing her beautiful smile.   
“I thought you’d be working, so I brought something to preoccupy you.” She said with a happy grin as they walked through to the kitchen and placed the bag on the counter.  
“Thank you.” He whispered softly in her ear as he gently wrapped his arms around her waist as he stood behind her, his muscles all relaxed as he felt her in his arms. ‘Already feel so much better, why can’t I always just hold her?’ He thought to himself as he inhaled. ‘I love that perfume, if only she knew what it does to me.’ He thought as he took in her fragrance as he hugged her tighter feeling her soft hair against the side of his face. She turned around in his arms and brushed his lips with hers as she whispered “no problem.” She said as she wrapped her arms around him inside his jacket as they kissed passionately. Every single ounce of Horatio’s worries disappeared and his thoughts calmed down to a minimum.  
“I… need to… eat… I’m star…ving.” She said between butterfly kisses and then broke from the kiss.   
“Been for a run?” He questioned with his hands still firmly placed around her waist, he smiled sweetly at he glanced down at her lips briefly then back into her captivating brown eyes.  
“Got it in one” she said with a smile and then she gave him one last kiss before they broke from the hug.  
They sorted out the food and ate, discussing the day at work. They then finished and cleared up and walked through to the living room and put the TV on.  
“Much better than work” Zoë said as she pulled her legs up under her as she sat next to Horatio.  
“Most definitely” he said with a small boyish grin and she grinned back up at him and softly gave him a quick loving kiss. It had gotten dark outside and Horatio pulled the curtains and blinds too and then sat back down beside Zoë. A CSI program came on and they were both glued too it, they both enjoyed pointing out all of the mistakes.   
“Always far too much drama” Horatio said as he chuckled.  
“There’s always far too much drama at work too!” She said as she turned to him with a massive grin. They gazed into each other’s eyes.  
“You’re eyes are so beautiful” she said, mesmerised by them as Horatio smiled at her, they seemed to be almost like a stress ball, she’d look into them and her worries would just disappear. He knew how much she loved his eyes.  
“You’re so beautiful” he replied back with a small cheesy grin. “Little bit cheesy, but I’ll take it.” She said with a grin as he took her hand in his and tenderly played with her fingers. He smiled at her and leaned in, wanting another kiss from her perfect lips. ‘I love you, I just wish I could say it without the worry of scaring you off. Is she ready to hear those words? Are her feelings as strong for me as mine are for her? Stop worrying and concentrate on the situation at hand, you’re so beautiful Zoe. I just wish I could have you all to me and share you with no-one.’ Horatio thought to himself as his mind wandered slightly. She saw him beginning to think and then placed her right hand behind his head as they began to softly kiss again, she felt him relax. Zoë turned her body to Horatio and leaned forward as he placed his right hand on her waist. He quickly ran his left through her silky hair.   
She gently bit his lip as the moment began to heat up quickly, both feeling each other’s passion for the other. She initiated a deep kiss as she parted her lips with Horatio following her lead. His tongue then slid between her lips and her tongue danced along with his. Their hearts began to beat faster and harder as their breathing increased and they still felt the same fluttering in their stomachs as they did the first time they kissed. ‘She’s so full of passion; she must feel the same way about me as I do about her. I just want to hold her and feel her soft skin beneath my fingers.’ He thought, wanting more than just a sensual kiss, although, the sensual kiss was skin-tingly good.   
Zoë placed her left hand on Horatio’s chest as she pulled herself closer to him, knowing he was thinking. ‘He’s thinking again. Is he ready to progress to the next step? Or should I leave him to make the move?’ She thought. ‘He won’t make that move; he’ll be worrying about pushing me.’ She thought, making her decision to be the first to move further. Her fingertips gently brushed down the back of his neck and around to the collar of his shirt where her other hand met at the collar. She slowly began to undo his buttons as they kissed deeply. It was the first time she’d gone to undo his shirt, in an intimate way, the last time being to look at the rash on his chest. Horatio’s right hand slid down her waist and down her outer thigh, feeling the next stage was in order, he knew she felt ready and he did too. ‘She is ready; I don’t think I could have waited much longer. I’m glad she made the decision though, so I know she is ready.’ He thought as he spread his fingers and thumb as he slowly glided his hand back up and held it at the top of her leg, their breathing increased more as their desire for each other grew. She managed to undo his shirt and her soft hand gently made contact with his chest as her right hand delicately ran through his hair again. He brought his left hand up and lightly threaded his fingers in her hair again. Horatio gently ran his hand down her thigh again and then up her inner thigh softly. She inhaled and broke from the kiss.   
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” She said with a shy smile as she went back to kiss him again.  
“I’m sorry.” Horatio said as he broke from the kiss again, afraid that he’d taken it a step too far. She went back to lightly kiss him again, letting him know that she was okay.  
“Don’t be… it felt good… coming… from you.” She said between kisses as she smiled while kissing, wanting him to do it again. ‘Oh, Ryan and the crash. How could I forget?” Horatio thought to himself. Horatio moved his hand from her inner thigh and un-tucked her shirt, he very gently slid his hand up her side, taking in the incredibly soft skin, pulling her shirt up in the process. Her hand danced over his bare chest as she felt his warm skin beneath her fingertips. His fingers met with the side of her bra and he felt the intricate detail of the patterns. He slowly let his fingers coast across her skin as he brought his hand back down and on to her thigh as he slid his hand down and wrapped his hand around the back of her knee and pulled her over so she straddled him. She giggled a little as she broke from the kiss and brought her other hand up around his neck and then moved in closer to kiss him passionately again. He ran both of his hands up her thighs up let them disappear up her shirt as he swept his hands up her sides as she delicately ran her fingers through his hair. Her shirt was pulled up but she didn’t care, she loved the feeling of his hands run over her skin. ‘Do I dare to go a little further? She didn’t mind me pulling her over onto me.’ Horatio thought to himself, trying to judge what was best to do. ‘I’ll be the first one to move further this time.’ He thought to himself as he ran his left hand down to sit at her waist while his other travelled around the side of her bra until he felt the underwire of her bra. She began to smile as she felt him getting closer to her breast, glad he was moving forward without being afraid of pushing her. He tenderly ran his fingers over her breast and then ever so lightly squeezed, enhancing both of their desires for the other. He very lightly squeezed again and a small moan left her throat, already feeling hot. Horatio felt himself stirring in his trousers, he tried to keep it under wraps as best he could for as long as he could, but he could no longer hold it back as his desires over took his thoughts.  
Zoë’s phone began to vibrate on the table, but she carried on kissing him as his fingertips gently slid around to her back and swept across her skin. The phone carried on vibrating.  
“I’m so sorry handsome.” She said as they broke from the kiss and Zoë reached over to pick the phone up. Horatio dropped his hand down to her waist, letting her shirt fall with it.  
“It’s Ryan…” She said looking at Horatio. ‘Should I answer it? Why would he be calling now anyway?’ She thought to herself.   
“Answer it.” Horatio said with a smile. Zoë gave him a nod as he withdrew his hands and she did the same and moved off him and sat next to him, snuggling up against him.  
“Hello?” She said as she answered, calming herself down and pulling her shirt down.  
“Zoë?” Ryan asked.  
“Hi Ryan, yes, it’s me.” She answered.   
“Can I ask a massive favour please?” He answered.  
“Yes.” She said as she listened intensely as Horatio took her free hand in his and began to play with her fingers and feel the soft skin on the back of her hand.  
“Well, Delko and I went out to a few bars and we’re a little out of town and no taxi’s will let him in… he’s had quite a few to drink you see.” Ryan said hoping that she’d say yes. “I can’t drive, I’ve had too much to drink.”   
“Okay honey, where are you?” Zoë said looking over to Horatio and softly bit her lip.   
“We’re at a nightclub called Fame.” Ryan said loudly.  
“Okay honey, I’ll be right there.” Zoë said softly looking at Horatio hoping he’d forgive her.  
“Oh, don’t tell H tomorrow, please?” Ryan said a little embarrassed, mainly for Eric.   
“Erm… sure, I won’t tell him.” Zoë said looking at him with a small cheeky smile. “Hey! Delko, get back here!” Ryan shouted at Eric.  
“Stay there, I’m on my way.” Zoë said as she hung up.  
“I’m sorry my lovely, I have to go…” She said as she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.  
“Where?” He questioned.  
“I can’t tell you that apparently.” She said with a cheeky smile as she stood up and tucked her shirt back in.   
“Sweetheart…” He said as he stood up with a boyish grin.  
“To a nightclub called Fame, the taxi’s won’t let Delko in…” She said with a grin as she sorted her clothes out.   
“I’m sorry; I wouldn’t leave unless it was necessary…” She said as she gave him another kiss.  
“I’ll go with you; you can’t be handling them both when they’ve been out… drinking.” He said worrying about her.  
“No, because you’re not supposed to know. Don’t worry handsome, I’ll give you a call later.”   
“Okay sweetheart, be careful! If you get any problems, call me.” He said as they went back for another kiss.  
“I’ll… see you… tomorrow.” She said between kisses then planted her hands on his bare chest and stepped back, breaking the kiss.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow beautiful.” He said with a smile. She smiled at him and they walked out of the living room as Horatio buttoned up his shirt. Zoë picked up her hand bag and got in to her car and drove over to this nightclub.   
‘I can’t let her go on her own, can I? They’ve been drinking. What if they’re difficult for her? What if they come on strongly to her? She can’t deal with them on her own. They could make her crash, they’re drunk, they’re not going to care where their hands go.’ Horatio began to worry.   
‘I’m not letting her go on her own, I can’t.’ Horatio said as he picked up his phone and went to pick up a jacket. ‘What if I get there too late? Ryan isn’t going to stop himself from coming on to her; he has enough difficulty with that when he’s sober. He’s too strong for her… he wouldn’t would he? He cares about her, but his feelings mixed with alcohol…’ Horatio began to panic. ‘I’ll call her she won’t be there yet.’ Horatio decided and pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled for her.   
‘Pick up sweetheart’ he thought as he heard the phone ring a few times.   
“Hello?” She questioned, not knowing who was calling her as it came through the car speakers.  
“Hello beautiful, it’s Horatio.’ He said softly, realising he was probably worrying a little too much.  
“Hi handsome, is everything okay?” She asked, hearing the worry in his voice.   
“Yes, I’m coming to meet you. You can’t deal with them on your own sweetheart. They’ve been drinking and… well… they could be quite handsy.” Horatio said quickly as he picked up his keys.  
“No, don’t worry about it handsome, they’ll be fine. I can deal with them, it’s only Eric that’s a little too drunk.” Zoë said softly.  
“Sweetheart, I don’t want you to have to deal with them on your own. It could be dangerous.” Horatio argued slightly as he made his way to the door.   
“Horatio, I’m fine, they’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry and you certainly don’t need to come out too. It’s alright, trust me.” She said softly, hearing just how worried he was.   
“Sweetheart–” Horatio said but was cut off.  
“Handsome, I’ll be absolutely fine. If I get any problems I’ll call you, I really will. But you do not need to worry. Ryan sounded virtually sober anyway.” She tried assuring him. She heard Horatio sigh on the end of the phone.   
“I’ll be fine.” She said softly, reassuring him.   
“Okay beautiful, but please call if you have any trouble with them at all.” Horatio said, giving in to her.   
“I will, I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.” She said softly.   
“Okay, I’ll speak to you later, be careful.” He said softly.   
“I will, speak to you later handsome.” She said softly and then they hung up.  
She pulled up beside Ryan and Eric and they both climbed in.  
“I’m so sorry Zoë; I wouldn’t have called if I didn’t have to.” Ryan said as he sat in the front passenger seat while Eric just slumped over the seats in the back.   
“Delko, sit up.” Ryan ordered as Zoë turned around to see him half in the car, lying across the seats.   
“How much has he had to drink?” Zoë said looking back at Ryan, she could smell the alcohol on Eric from the front.   
“I honestly couldn’t tell you.” Ryan replied looking back too. Zoë sighed and took her seatbelt off and climbed out the car and walked around to the still open door.  
“Eric honey, sit up and get in the car properly for me please.” Zoë said firmly as she leant on the door.  
“Zoë?” He slurred as he pushed himself up turning to look at her.   
“Yes, it’s me; now get in the car properly please.” She said as she bent down. Eric pulled his legs in the car and sat up and rested his head against the head rest.  
“If you’re sick in here, you’ll be spending tomorrow giving it a deep clean, okay?” Zoë said sternly but with a small smile.   
“Okayyyyy” Eric slurred, looking over to her with a drunken grin.  
“Seatbelt?” Zoë questioned, backing away from him a little as the smell of alcohol was overwhelming.  
“Yeah” Eric said as he reached for the seatbelt but didn’t find it as he lifted his head. Zoë sighed and rolled her eyes at him.   
“I’ve got it.” Zoë said as she leant over him and pulled it across him.  
“How… how about a good night kiss too?” Eric slurred loudly, watching her put his seatbelt on him.  
“No honey, but if you ask Ryan nicely enough, he might…” She said with a grin as she shut the door. She walked around the car.   
Meanwhile, Horatio was still worried sick. He was convinced something bad was going to happen and still contemplated driving over to meet them.   
Zoë had gotten into her car and shut the door again.   
“Why did you let him drink so much?” Zoë questioned as she put her seatbelt on and turned the ignition on.   
“I didn’t think he was that drunk, it all seemed to hit him at once.” Ryan said with a small chuckle.  
“How much have you had to drink then mister?” She asked as she pulled away.   
“Not that much, just a few.” Ryan said looking at her with a happy grin.  
“Hmm… it looks like a little more than a few.” She said grinning.   
“Eric, you okay back there?” Zoë called.   
“Yeah” he slurred as he lifted his head from a slumped position.   
“I hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of anything.” Ryan asked as he rested his head back glancing at her. ‘I should ask her out again. Or I could just gently place my hand on her leg? Ahh, I’d give anything to touch her.’ He thought to himself.   
“No, I had just eaten dinner.” She said with a small smile. Zoë turned the radio on a little and Eric started to sing along to the words. ‘No, don’t do that, it could cause an accident! Why did I drink so much?” He questioned himself, not even realising she’d put the radio on.   
“Now, that… that is worth coming out for…” She said as a massive grin appeared across her face. It was ‘Every time we touch’ by Cascada.  
“I didn’t have you down as liking this sort of music…” Ryan said looking over to her confused.  
“It’s on the radio for some bizarre reason, it’s not my stuff, I’m more worried about the fact that he knows the words to it!” Zoë said chuckling to herself looking at Eric in the mirror. Ryan laughed as he put his head back.  
“I don’t think I should have had those last 3 shots…” He said softly, slurring slightly.  
“You’re not going to be sick are you?” Zoë asked growing concerned glancing over to him a few times.  
“No, I can feel the effects though!” Ryan said with a grin appearing across his face.  
“Oh no… I can only just deal with Eric… let alone you.” She said with a smile.   
“I won’t be as bad as him.” Ryan said smiling looking back at Eric who was singing quite happily in his own world.  
“Are you sure pretty boy? Because I’m sure I’d have to video you.” Zoë said with a cheeky smile.  
“Oh yeah?” Ryan said. ‘She’s coming on to me, oh yes.’ Ryan thought to himself.   
“Yeah, I’d be filming him at the moment… but I’ve got to do a thing called driving your sorry ass’s home.” She said grinning as she pulled up onto Eric’s road. Ryan’s thoughts were quickly shattered, realising she wasn’t coming on to him, it was just another of her innocent remarks. Zoë pulled up outside Eric’s.  
“Eric honey, we’re here.” She said as she got out and closed her door and walked around to open his. Eric tried to climb out but was restrained by the seatbelt.  
“Hey, sit back.” She said as she unplugged the seatbelt. She helped Eric out and kicked the door shut as Ryan climbed out.  
“Are you going to be of any help or am I going to have to carry you as well?” She said with a grin as Ryan placed Eric’s arm around his neck. Zoë did the same to stop him from falling flat on his face. They walked up the path.  
“Erm… do you want to get his keys? They’re in his front pocket…” Ryan said as they got to his front door.   
“Can’t you do that?” She said, really not wanting to root through his pockets, almost afraid of what she may find.  
“Erm… it’s less weird if you do it really.” Ryan said grinning at her, swaying a little himself.   
“Fine” Zoë said as she let go of Eric’s arm and slipped her hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys as he looked up and grinned at her.  
“Hey, that means nothing.” She said raising an eyebrow, as she tried to stifle a smile. She put the key in the door and opened it and placed the keys on the table beside the door as they got in. Ryan kicked the door shut as they went to find his room. They sat Eric on his bed.  
“Go to sleep honey.” Zoë said as Ryan turned around and began to walk out but stumbled into a table and knocked off a glass which split.  
Ryan looked up at Eric and they both just broke out in hysterical laughter. They were both absolutely hysterical and couldn’t stop laughing.   
“Eric, sleep. Ryan, out.” She ordered to try and gain some control over the situation, Ryan had doubled over from laughter and Eric’s head began to throb. She began to grin because of their laughter, but couldn’t laugh because of principle. They were both bright red in the face; they eventually managed to calm themselves down after a few minutes.  
“Ohhh aren’t you coming to bed with me?” Eric asked as his face dropped.  
“No, but I can leave Ryan here to keep you company?” She asked glancing over to him.  
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Ryan questioned as he stumbled over to Zoë.  
“Eric, go to sleep. Ryan, get out.” Zoë said with a smile as she turned around and picked up the broken glass and put it in the bin.   
“Come on Ryan.” She said as they both stared at her ass.  
“Am I going to have to slap you both?” She questioned as she caught them both staring through the corner of her eye.  
“No, I’m going.” Ryan said as he began to walk out of the room.  
“You, sleep. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” Zoë said with a smile as she shut his door. She saw Ryan stumbling over to the stairs.  
“Ryan!” She shouted quietly and he stopped and turned as she rushed over to him.   
“You can’t walk down those on your own.” She said as she placed a hand around his waist as she put his other hand around her neck. She slowly helped him down. ‘Would she freak if I touched her?’ Ryan asked himself silently as his thoughts were no longer rational and thought he could do anything.   
“I knew I’d be carrying you out.” She said shaking her head with a grin.  
“I’m fine.” Ryan slurred slightly.  
“Yeah, and I’m a Queen.” She said sarcastically.  
“But you are…” Ryan slurred a little.  
“Yeah, sure” she said as they reached the bottom of the stairs, happy that he didn’t fall and drag her down with him. They got out of the house and Zoë got Ryan to the car. He turned to her as she opened the door and took a hold of her waist as he stepped in closer.  
“Ryan, think about what you’re doing. Let me go, please.” She said calmly, knowing it was the alcohol. He looked at her lips as they moved; he was too absorbed in watching her lips move to hear what they were saying. He began to move his hand up, going for her breast.  
“Ryan, let me go. Please.” She said a little more forcefully as she took hold of his wrists. He looked up at her and realised that she was being serious. He quickly withdrew his hands, realising that he was being completely inappropriate.   
“I’m sorry Zoë.” He said as he looked at her, shocked with himself.   
“Just get in the car.” She said as she backed off and walked round to get in herself. They put their seatbelts on.  
“I’m really sorry Zoë, I didn’t mean to… it’s the drink.” Ryan slurred a little.  
“Just forget about it.” Zoë said, letting him off lightly. ‘I better not tell Horatio about that…’ She thought to herself as she pulled away.  
“I’m still really sorry.” Ryan said softly, looking for some sort of forgiveness.  
“Okay honey, just forget about it.” She said softly glancing over to him.  
They drove over to his as he began to doze off. She pulled up outside of his.   
“I can’t believe you’re both this drunk and it’s not even that late!” She said as she helped Ryan out of the car.   
“We’re not that drunk.” Ryan said with a grin as Zoë closed the door. She helped him over to his front door.  
“Keys?” Zoë questioned. Ryan put his hand in his pocket and pulled them out. He tried to open the door but was completely missing the lock.  
“Pass them here.” Zoë said as she took them from him.  
“Thank you.” Ryan said.   
“Come on.” She said as she helped him in as she placed his keys on the side. She found his bedroom and they walked in.  
“Now you; sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said with a smile.  
“Thank you again and I’m sorry.” Ryan said slowly.  
“Don’t worry about it, good night.” She said as she shut his door. She drove home and rang Horatio to let him know that everything was good.  
The next morning Zoë turned up for work on time and got to work as Ryan stumbled in looking rough.  
How are you feeling this morning?” She questioned with a massive smile.  
“Fragile…” He answered as he sat down.  
“Let’s get you a coffee.” She said as she dragged him back up and then Eric stumbled in too, looking even worse.  
“You too” she said loudly getting his attention. He walked over to them and they went to the break room where they both slumped on the sofa. She made them a cup of coffee.  
“And how are you feeling Eric?”   
“mmm” He replied as he put his head back.  
“I thought as much, how did you even manage to drive in?” She questioned.  
“I don’t know.” Eric said lifting his head as she brought two cups over to them and handed them both to them.  
“I didn’t know you were a fan of Cascada…” Zoë said as she looked at him and stepped back. Eric looked at her confused.  
“When it was on the radio last night you sang along to it, knowing all of the words…” Zoë said with a grin as she stifled a snigger.   
“Oh lord…” Eric said putting his head back.  
“What else happened?” Eric asked dryly.  
“Well, you offered me your bed… and a good night kiss.” Zoë said as she chuckled.  
“Zoë, I’m so sorry. Really. I was out of my mind.” Eric said as he lifted his head with wide eyes.  
“Don’t worry about it honey, Ryan joined you in bed.” She said sincerely.  
“WHAT?” He said looking over to Ryan wide eyed.  
“He didn’t really, I then took him home. Don’t worry about it; I’m happy I can be of assistance.” She said with a smile and a small chuckle. Eric smiled and put his head back down when Horatio came in to the break room and they both stood up and looked to attention. A small smile appeared across his face, seeing them looking worse for wear.  
“Good night gentlemen?” Horatio asked as he put a hand on his hip.  
“You could say that.” Ryan said, a little embarrassed by the state they were in.  
“We have a call out.” Horatio said to them and then his eyes landed on Zoë.  
“They’re going to have to ride with us.” She said with a cheeky smile looking from Eric to Ryan to Horatio. Horatio raised his eyebrows.  
“Erm… we may have had a little to drink last night.” Eric piped up sorrowfully.  
“I see.” Horatio said, hiding a small smile, he quickly walked out.   
“Come on boys.” She said with a smile as they gulped their coffee down.   
The day passed quickly and both Ryan and Eric sobered up sufficiently to drive themselves home after feeling rotten all day.   
Zoë went for a work out in her gym before having a soothing bath. She ate some pasta and then sat down and rested. She pulled her phone out and rang Horatio.  
“Hey handsome” she greeted him sweetly.  
“Hello beautiful” he replied, equally as sweetly.  
“Have you finished your work?” She questioned.  
“Yes, and just had dinner.” Horatio said softly. “Is everything okay between you and Mr Wolfe? He seemed a little distant today, especially around you.” Horatio said softly.


	2. Chapter 2

“Yeah, everything’s good. I think he was just a little embarrassed about the state he was in last night…” She said softly, hoping he wouldn’t ask anymore as she knew she couldn’t lie to him.  
“Ahh, I see.” Horatio said softly.  
“He didn’t try anything, did he?” Horatio asked softly, he then heard her exhale on the end of the phone. ‘I knew he had, I should have gone instead, or at least with her!’ Horatio thought to himself, feeling as though it was his fault.   
“Not really, he wanted to though.” Zoë said truthfully.   
“What did he do?” Horatio asked immediately, worried about her and whether it had upset her. She heard the urgency and frustration in his voice.   
“He just put his hands on my waist, I warned him to back off and to think about what he was doing. There’s no need to worry handsome.” She said softly, knowing it would be a sensitive subject for Horatio.  
“You warned him off? Did he not back off?” Horatio asked, picking up on her carefully chosen words, knowing that it suggested he tried more. ‘If he did anything more, I will have his head.’ Horatio thought to himself, agitated.  
“I warned him off, but he did try again by moving his hand, going to get a feel and wanting to kiss me, then when I warned him again and took hold of his wrists he immediately backed off when sense hit him. Don’t worry about it handsome, he didn’t try anything else and was very apologetic. He literally only put his hands on my waist. He wasn’t forceful at all, it was just the alcohol.” She said softly. “Don’t blame him okay? I’ve forgiven him and you shouldn’t take anything any further.” She added, knowing that he’d want words with Ryan.  
“Okay sweetheart.” He said softly, accepting her wishes and knowing that she was telling him the truth and that it hadn’t bothered her too much.  
“Want some company?” She asked with a cheeky smile.  
“Always” he replied with a smile already.  
“I’ll be right over handsome.” She said as they hung up. She put her shirt and trousers on and walked over. It was a cold night and she thought ‘Woah, it’s rather chilly for Miami!’ as she walked down the road. Her chest began to tighten and she then arrived at Horatio’s. ‘Ah shit, no time to take my inhaler before getting there.’ She thought as he opened his door before she even knocked.  
“Come in beautiful.” He said with a smile.  
“Thank you.” She said as she stepped in and coughed as she turned away and covered her mouth.  
“Sorry.” She apologised, looking back to him.   
“Not to worry.” He said as he took her jacket and hung it up.   
“Do you mind if I use your bathroom, please?” She questioned, quickly placing her inhaler in her trouser pocket.  
“Of course, you know where it is.” He said with a smile. She walked over to the downstairs bathroom as he went through to the kitchen. He then heard her coughing and began to walk over towards the bathroom.  
“Zoë, are you alright beautiful?” He questioned. She took her inhaler as she leant on the sink basin. She didn’t hear him as she began to panic slightly, telling herself to calm down or it’ll make it worse.   
“Zoë? Are you okay sweetheart?” He questioned as he knocked on the door.   
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She called through the door.  
“Do you mind if I come in?” He asked hearing her cough and wheeze through the door.   
“Erm… sure” she said as she turned to the door and stood up straight and then coughed again as he walked in.   
“Sweetheart, sit down.” He said as he saw her beginning to panic, he pulled her over to the loo and sat her on it with the lid down. She took another puff and held her breath then exhaled.  
“You’re okay sweetheart.” Horatio reassured her gently rubbing her back and shoulder.  
“Sorry, it’s cold out there.” She said with a shy smile.  
“Sweetheart, you don’t need to be sorry! You shouldn’t have to feel like you should hide this from me.” He said caringly.  
“I know, old habits are hard to break.” She said and then she coughed again. ‘Old habits?’ He thought to himself.  
“Do you want some water?” He asked.  
“Please.” She said with a small smile as she calmed herself down. He quickly came back with a glass of water. She sipped some as it became easier to breathe.  
“Thank you handsome.” She said as she stood up.  
“Not a problem sweetheart.” He said as he placed his hand on the side of her neck.  
“Come and sit down.” He said with a smile as he moved his hand to her back. They walked through to the living room.   
“I’m sorry it’s late honey, I got caught up with work.” She said with a smile.   
“Don’t worry about it beautiful.” He said as they sat down.  
“How are you feeling now?” He asked as she pulled her legs up under her.  
“A lot better thank you, the cold air sometimes sets it off, despite the good control!” She said with a shy smile.   
“Are you sure?” He said looking at her still slightly concerned.   
“Yeah, I’m really okay now.” She said with a smile, reassuring him.   
“Good.” He said with a smile.  
“Anyway, hello” She said smiling as she gave him a kiss.  
“Hello.” He said as they kissed softly, she pulled back and smiled at him biting her lip softly.  
“What?” He asked with a smile, seeing that look in her eyes.  
“Nothing, it’s just good to see you again, outside of work.” She said with a cheeky grin. A boyish grin appeared across his face as he looked down.   
“Do you want a coffee?” He asked with a smile when he looked back up at her.  
“Erm… go on then, thank you.” She said as she grinned at him. He got up and she stood after he did and walked through to the kitchen with him. He got two mugs out and put the coffee, sugar and milk in and waited for the kettle to boil. Zoë walked over to him and put her arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes.  
“You know what…” She said biting her lip.  
“What?” He said with a curious grin as he wrapped his arms around her lower back.  
“I love you.” She said gazing into his sparkling blue eyes.  
“I love you too, a lot.” He said as two massive grins appeared across their faces. They had both been waiting to say that, Zoë could no longer wait.  
She pulled him in closer as he tightened his grip of her waist and back as they lightly kissed. The kettle had finished boiling. Horatio couldn’t help but be overwhelmed, he’d been waiting for that day for a very long time, he’d even had dreams of her telling him that she loved him.   
“The… coffee?” Horatio asked between butterfly kisses.  
“Forget… about… it.” She said between kisses, not wanting to break the moment.   
She bit his lip gently and then their tongues met after they parted lips, their breathing increased as they turned and Zoë pushed Horatio back against the counter. She let one of her hands travel down from his neck to his chest as she placed her palm over his strong chest. ‘I bloody hope we aren’t disturbed tonight.’ Zoë thought to herself.   
‘I love you so much. I cannot believe just how perfect this moment is right now.’ Horatio thought to himself.  
He gently moved his hands to sit on either side of her waist. Her other hand came down as she brushed his neck with her fingertips and she began to unbutton his shirt again, she unbuttoned it fully then pulled it out of his trousers. She ran a hand around his waist and with her fingertips brushed up from his stomach to his neck softly with her other hand, she placed her hand on the side of his face as she lovingly kissed him. His right hand slid down and rested on her ass as his left un-tucked her shirt and he softly ran his hand up her side until it met the fabric of the side of her bra, he gently ran his hand back down. He slowly pushed her back so she leant against the island counter, he could feel himself grow in his trousers as he began to undo the top buttons of her shirt.  
Horatio broke from the kiss briefly “are you comfortable with this?” he asked delicately, wondering if he was pushing her too far too quickly.   
“Yes completely, are you?” She asked, concerned that she was pushing him too far.   
“Yes” Horatio replied with a wide grin. They began to kiss again as Horatio finished undoing her buttons. She felt him grow in his trousers and it aroused her more so. She dropped one of her hands and wrapped her arm around his lower back, pulling him closer to her. He pushed her shirt to the sides and placed his hands on her waist, his right hand slowly made its way up to her left breast. He tenderly squeezed her breast in her bra and he felt her deepen the kiss, asking for more. He couldn’t help but smile a little. ‘She’s so perfect, I am the luckiest man alive.’ He thought to himself. He gently pulled at the cup of the bra and smoothly let his fingers move over the skin of her breast before tenderly massaging her breast, feeling her roused nipple in the middle of his hand. A low groan was let from her throat, feeling pleasure already.  
“Upstairs?” She said out of breath and between a kiss.  
“Mm-hmm” He agreed with her and then dropped his hand from her bra as she took a hold of his other hand and they walked out of the kitchen and rushed over to the stairs where Zoë gently pushed Horatio against the wall again. She ran her hands from his shoulders down his bare chest and around his waist pulling him closer to her. They kissed passionately again as they gently bit each other’s lips every so often.  
Horatio then took her hand and they climbed the stairs. She again leant him against the bedroom door, she put both of her hands on his strong shoulders and pushed the shirt off as it fell down to his feet, heightening the anticipation.   
She gently ran her hands over his bare chest when he turned her around and lightly pushed her against the door. Horatio pressed his large member against her. He also placed his right hand on her waist as he traced the skin below the bottom of her underwire of her bra with his fingertips under her right breast. It drove her crazy and she firmly pulled him into her as she let out a small moan, the anticipation was killing the both of them.   
Their torso’s made contact and their skin tingled where their skin was lightly brushing against each other’s. Horatio slowly opened the door and they didn’t break from the kiss as Horatio backed Zoë towards his bed. The back of her legs made contact with the bed as she stopped. They both flicked their socks off using their feet, continuing to let their tongues dance slowly together.   
Zoë’s hands explored his upper body when they found the belt buckle and she began to undo it as his hands also unbuttoned her trousers. They both dropped each other’s trousers at the same time and his hands found the sides of her lace underwear, it drove him crazy, he could feel the lace run through is fingers.   
They turned and Zoe lightly laid him down on the bed. They opened their eyes and realised that it was dark in the room. Horatio found her hand and pulled her down as he shuffled up the bed and flicked the lamp on. She was kneeling on the bed in her underwear and shirt. She straddled him as he sat up and pushed the sides of her shirt to the sides. His hands travelled up as they kissed, he didn’t open his eyes, but he visualised her in his mind, his hands travelled over the bottom of her ribs and over her breasts and then flicked her shirt off her shoulders.   
She flicked the shirt off the bed and leant forwards, laying him down on the bed as she pressed herself against him, he felt the fabric of her bra against his chest. She teased him by gently rocking her hips.  
“Mmm” Horatio groaned as he sat up and began to kiss her neck as her skin tingled under his lips. She held her head back as his hands softly moved from her waist up and he very gently cupped her breasts.   
“Mm” Zoë moaned as her head rolled and her hands slid up his arms and around his neck. His hands slid over her breasts and around to the back. He smoothly undone the clasp and quickly pulled the bra off before Zoë pushed him back down and pressed herself against him as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He felt her breasts against his chest and very smoothly rolled over to lay her on her back as he began to kiss her neck. Their desire intensified to a new height and then Horatio began to gently mouth at her neck. Her stomach muscles tensed under the desire. Her nipples hardened in the air as Horatio began to suckle at the top of her chest as he brought his right hand up and very gently caressed her left breast. He felt her hard nipple in the middle of his palm as he then brushed his fingertips over it.  
“Ughh Horatio.” She moaned as her legs collapsed towards the bed.  
“Ah-mm” Horatio moaned back as he began to kiss around her right breast. He then engulfed her right nipple in his warm mouth and flicked it with his wet tongue.  
“Ahh!” She almost yelped with desire. She pulled him back up and kissed him passionately as she rolled him over onto his back. She pressed herself against him and gently rocked her hips against his. She gently broke the kiss and began to kiss her way down his body until she got to the rim of his boxers. She pulled them down and off and then threw them across the room as she began to kiss the very tip. She took a hold of his length with her right hand and his appetite for her dramatically increased and he pulled her up to him and kissed her.   
His tongue passed her lips as he rolled her back over. He kissed her as he supported himself on his left elbow and gently rolled her left nipple between his fingertips. She moaned with passion and took hold of his hips as he again engulfed her nipple with his mouth and flicked at it with his tongue. He moved over to the other one as she ran her hand hard through his hair.  
“Ahhh Horatio!” She moaned loudly. He felt the rising of her chest increase as she began to breathe a lot more deeply. She pulled him back up and kissed him lightly then firmly, before she bit his lip as he gently squeezed her breast and heard a groan leave her throat. Her hands travelled up to his chest and then around to his back where she lightly traced his spine with her fingertips which drove him crazy again. They rocked their bodies together.  
“Uhhh Zoë.” Horatio moaned and pressed his lips to hers.  
He pulled her lacy underwear down and she flicked them off. They kissed again as desire raged through their bloodstreams. He teased her entrance with his tip and it drove them both insane. She pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his as they kissed.  
“Protection?” Horatio questioned between a kiss.  
“I’m… on the… Pill” she groaned between kisses.   
“Mmm” he moaned. They rocked their bodies more as Horatio rolled her nipple through his fingers again.  
“Horatio! Mmm” She moaned louder as she pulled him down on to her again. He circled her wet, hot entrance, and then rubbed it with the tip. It drove him insane as well as her.   
“Mmm” he moaned again.  
“Horatio” she moaned almost breathless, the anticipation getting stronger and stronger. He slowly entered her and her legs fell apart. “Mmmmmm” she groaned again. He pulled backwards and then thrusted forwards again, slowly to begin with. Their lips locked as they both began to breathe wildly as Zoë ran one hand through his hair and had the other around his back. He thrusted forward again and again, gradually getting firmer as he threaded a hand through her hair.   
“Zo” he moaned between a kiss.  
“Mmm” she moaned as he began to get faster. Her legs rose again and she began to rock her hips as he powered in and out.  
“Urhhh!” She began to moan aloud as they broke from the kiss and placed their foreheads together.   
“Mmmmm” she began to moan loudly as did he. He could feel her muscles starting to contract around him as he thrusted forward and back, intensifying the pleasure for him and he moaned more.  
They both worked together and began to work faster.   
“Ah! Ahhh Horatio!” She moaned. “Ahhhh Horatio!!” She began to almost yell as her body became unhinged and she writhed in pleasure beneath him. Her muscles contracted around him as he powered into her.   
Horatio felt the pleasure surge through his body.   
“Horatio!” She yelled as he felt her muscles contract around him once again and her body began to almost shake beneath him in pleasure as her chest rose. She began to come down from the orgasm, still feeling pleasure rip through her body.   
With his right hand he began to squeeze her left breast and then played around with her nipple causing her to call out to him again.  
“Oh my gosh Horatio!!” She almost shouted.  
He was still driving into her as she began to climax again, along with him.  
“Mm-mmahh!” He moaned loudly as he let go of her breast.  
“Zo!” He moaned in her ear. They moved together, causing an unbelievable amount of pleasure to course through them.  
“Zo-ahhh, Zoë” he groaned.  
“Mmm Horatio!” She moaned. They moaned together as the movement of their bodies got faster.  
They both began to climax as he felt her contracting around his length again. She pulled his body in close and they moaned each other’s names and groaned unrecognisable noises.  
With a few hard and fast pushes Horatio could feel himself about to explode into her as the muscle walls tightened around him again. Another push as he had erupted into her letting out one long moan as he dropped his head beside hers as she almost whimpered into his ear with outstanding amounts of pleasure, they laid there breathless.  
“Oh Horatio” She said breathless as she exhaled with her tired arms sprawled out either side. He was still inside her and she was still contracting around him, he felt her walls pulsate around him in time with her heartbeat.  
“Ah Zoë” He said with a smile as their bodies twitched.  
“Oh my gosh Horatio!” Zoë said as she exhaled with a massive grin. Horatio rolled off her, exiting her. Her body again went into a little spasm. He turned his head and looked over to her as she turned her head to look at him. They both smiled at each other and leant up and met each other in the middle and began kissing again.  
“I love you.” Zoë said breaking off the kiss.  
“I love you too.” Horatio said as they went back in for another kiss, their mouths entwined as pulses of pleasure ripped through their bodies still. Zoë laid back down and exhaled with a smile.  
Horatio leaned over and his eyes fell to the scar from the shooting a couple of months back. He traced it with his fingers.  
“It’s healed well.” He said softly looking up at her with soft relaxed blue eyes and she smiled at him with a nod. She then felt him trace the very old scar along her ribcage. She looked up at the ceiling, hoping he wouldn’t ask, he saw her hesitance and he dropped his head and gave her nipple another flick with his tongue.   
“Hey you!” She said with a cheeky grin as she leaned up and over him, causing him to lie down again. His hand was still placed over her ribs as he watched her lean over him and pick her bra up. She put it on and looked up at him seductively and bit her lip. She then looked around for her underwear.  
“You’re not getting dressed, are you beautiful?”   
“I’m afraid I have to, I should get home.” She said with a small shy smile.  
“Stay here tonight.” He asked sweetly, cupping her face.  
“But what will I wear to sleep in?” She asked with a cheeky smile.  
“Nothing” he answered with a boyish smile.   
“Hmm…” She said looking at him with a raised eyebrow. She leant over him and delicately pressed her lips to his and kissed him softly as his hand travelled down her back and waist. “I tell you what, if I can sleep in one of your shirts or t-shirts, and have a shower. I’ll stay.” She said biting her lip inches away from him.  
“You got it.” He said as he pulled the duvet over them and cupped her face with his hand and went in to kiss her again. They lightly brushed their lips together as they smiled with their eyes closed. They could feel each other smiling as Horatio lightly ran his fingers down her face, neck and then through the middle of her breasts. He traced the underwire of her bra and then down her side to her lower back where he pulled her closer to him. He rolled her back and gently placed his hand on her hip as he supported himself with his other arm. He then moved his hand from her hip and began to sweep his fingers over her stomach. He gradually worked his way down lower as a grin appeared across his face as he kissed her.  
“I need… that… shower.” She said between butterfly kisses.  
“Do you… have… to?” He said between butterfly kisses and then they broke from the kiss as they looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. He quickly brought his hand back up and placed it on the side of her ribs.  
“It’s a part of our deal, and if we carry on, we’re not going to get into work on time tomorrow.” She said biting her lip. A boyish grin appeared across his face.  
“Let me have that shower, and I’ll be back here before you know it.” She said smiling up into his light blue eyes.   
“Okay beautiful.” He said smiling down at her as he rolled over on to his back. She shuffled over to the edge of the bed and picked up her underwear. She put them on under the duvet and then picked up her shirt and got up turning to Horatio as she slid it on over her shoulders.   
“I’ll be back in a moment.” She said as she flicked her hair back out of her shirt.  
“I can’t wait.” He said with a smile.   
“You’re going to have to.” She replied with a cheeky smile as a boyish smile beamed across his face. She turned around and headed for the en-suite bathroom, his eyes followed her body through, observing the way she walked. He felt himself beginning to stir again down in the lower regions so he got up and pulled his boxers up as he got himself a pair of joggers out of the set of draws. He went downstairs and made that coffee and then went upstairs again and placed the two mugs on the bedside cabinet. Zoë popped her head around the corner with her long hair tied up.  
“How about that shirt, please handsome?” She said with a cheeky grin as he looked up at her.  
“It’s on its way.” He said as he got a shirt out and passed it to her.  
“Thank you.” She said with a sweet smile as she bit her bottom lip. She put it on and walked out and did up the first few bottom buttons, leaving the last 3.   
“Coffee?” He asked as he picked up a mug and handed it to her as she smiled at him. He took a quick shower and came back out in night pants and a t-shirt.  
She was sat down on the right side of the bed and he sat on the left. They placed their mugs on the bedside cabinets and got under the duvet, they sat up and finished their coffee, not exchanging many words, but having a whole conversation as she rubbed his leg with hers, giving him a cheeky smile and he replied.   
They slipped down into the bed and Horatio turned the lamp off.  
“Good night handsome.” She whispered in his ear.  
“Good night beautiful.” He whispered in hers and then his lips found hers as they lightly brushed them together. ‘Could life get any better?’ Horatio questioned himself and he couldn’t think of anything that would top the situation.   
They both fell asleep, Zoë before Horatio. ‘You’re so beautiful, I couldn’t have wished for a better evening.’ He thought, looking at her sleep peacefully. A smile grew across his face. He could feel her breath steadily hit his neck as it relaxed him further. Horatio eventually fell asleep at ease, the first time in a very long time that he’d gone to sleep without a worry in his mind. They went to sleep with a smile on their faces, happy, something both of them needed. 

Horatio woke up the next morning around 5.05am, he woke up to the feeling of Zoë’s left arm draped over his chest and her warm, soft body against his. He turned his head and saw Zoë, sleeping peacefully next to him, with her breath lightly travelling over his shoulder. He laid there still, as a smile appeared across his face, affectionately watching her sleep. He wanted to hold that memory forever. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes thinking about the previous night. The thought of it had him stirring in his boxers. He felt Zoë’s chest rise against his arm and her breath roll over his shoulder again. He looked around to her and she was beginning to wake up. She opened her eyes and caught Horatio’s gaze. She began to smile as she closed her eyes again and nuzzled at his shoulder.  
“Morning beautiful” he said huskily.  
“Morning handsome” she said sweetly with a tired smile. She was already turned on hearing his husky, sleepy voice. He moved the left hand and felt it brush against something smooth. He quickly realised it was the top of her legs. She felt him brush his hand over the top of her legs and she wanted him again. She leant over to kiss him but he slid her hand over her inner thigh and stopped her in her tracks as she gasped for air biting her lip as her desire grew stronger. He lightly traced circles on her inner thigh as she leant over on him, placing a hand on his chest.   
She pressed her lips to his and whispered “you have to stop that, or we’re never going to get to work.” He gave her a boyish smile as he cheekily chuckled at her. He pulled his hand up and placed it on her hip. She softly kissed him and his hand disappeared up her the shirt she was wearing, his palm and fingers slid up her side and felt her velvet skin beneath, he felt the curve from her hips to ribs and he just wanted her again.  
“What… did… I… say?” She asked between butterfly kisses, smiling at him.  
“I believe you said ‘oh my gosh Horatio!’” He said as they broke from the kiss as Horatio gave her a cheeky smile.  
“I meant just now…” She said looking at him biting her lip with a very cheeky smile. Horatio just looked at her with that grin of his. She quickly glanced at the clock and back at him.  
“I really need to go; I’ll see you at work handsome.” She said as she gave him one last loving kiss as she placed a delicate hand on his chest.  
“I’ll see you there beautiful.” Horatio said as he slowly withdrew his hand from her body with a smile. She shuffled out of bed and picked up her shirt and trousers which had been thrown around the room and disappeared into the bathroom, reappearing a minute later.   
“I’ll see you there, I love you handsome.” She said as she bent down over him to kiss him.  
“I love you too.” Horatio said as he gave her a loving kiss back. She gave him a smile as he sat up and placed a hand on her waist, he then stood up and kissed her again with his hands planted on her waist. She was losing herself to her desires again. She pulled back.  
“Horatio, I really need to go. I’ll see you later honey.” She said as she placed a finger on his lips, and then released them with a small cheeky smile as she bit her lip.  
“Okay sweetheart, I’ll see you at work.” Horatio said as he gave her one last kiss, he then loosened his grip around her waist. They walked downstairs and Horatio showed her out. He watched her walk up the road and then made himself a coffee, grinning to himself. ‘That was the best evening in a very long time, you should think yourself lucky! She’s one amazing woman, one amazing woman that loves you back.’ He thought to himself as a wider grin appeared across his face.   
Zoë got home went for a jog and then had a shower, made coffee and sat down to think about the night. She rested her head back on the sofa, with the hot coffee in her hands. She closed her eyes and grinned at the ceiling. ‘Wow, what a magical night.’ She thought as she replayed the evening in her head. ‘You’re one lucky woman. I always knew he was perfect, he’s definitely one in a million… actually, more like one in a billion.’

Everyone got to work and they were all called out to attend a double murder in a large house, in a secluded area. The son had woken up and come out of his room to find his parents deceased in the living room. Horatio, Ryan, Eric and Zoë attended, along with Alexx.   
“What have you got for me, Alexx?” Horatio asked, looking over at Zoë the other side of the room, trying to hide a smile.   
“They were both poisoned with Cyanide, however, it looks like they died at least an hour to two hours apart, it’s strange Horatio.” She said looking up at him as he quickly looked back down to her with his smile diminishing.   
“The husband died after the wife, I can tell you that.” Alexx said looking at the husband.   
“Thank you Alexx, let me know if you find anything else.” Horatio said as he looked back up at Zoë.   
He walked off to look around and to make sure the son was looked after. Ryan, Eric and Zoë all processed the scene, Alexx got the bodies back to autopsy.  
Ryan walked into the room where Zoë was working.  
“You seem very happy this morning…” Ryan questioned as she turned around to look at him with a brilliant grin.   
“Is there something wrong with that?” She questioned with a grin.   
“No, not at all. I just think it’s a little too early to be that happy.” Ryan said with a shyish smile.  
“It’s never too early to be this happy.” She said softly, glancing over at Horatio. Ryan nodded and looked down with a smile, happy himself now that she had brightened up his morning.   
“Got anything?” He questioned, trying to change the subject.   
“Nope, you?” She asked, looking at him softly.  
“Yes, Delko and I got a few things from upstairs, we’re going to head back to the lab, are you coming?” Ryan asked with a small smile.  
“I’ll be along in a little while honey, something isn’t quite right and I want to find out what it is.” Zoë said softly as she looked around the room.   
“Okay, I’ll see you back at the lab. Give me a ring if you need anything.” Ryan said softly as he turned.   
“Thanks, see you later.” She said as she got back onto what she was doing. She got up after finding nothing in that room and walked through into the study, placing her kit on the floor by the desk before looking over the desk for any evidence at all. ‘What is it with this house?’ She asked herself, looking around the room again, her happy mood quickly diminishing.   
She picked up her kit and put it on the desk when she found something under the chair by the side of the desk.   
Horatio walked into the study where she was kneeling on the floor. He smiled when he laid his eyes on her.  
“Got something?” He asked as he stood in the doorway, looking at her tenderly, fiddling with his sunglasses.  
“Yeah, I’ve got a pill pot.” She said as she stood up with it in a pair of tweezers. She held it up to inspect it. “I’ve also got a nice print.” She said with a smile as she then focused on Horatio coming over and stood close, looking at the print. She grinned at him, as he grinned back at her briefly.  
“Good find.” He said with a smile at her. She bagged and sealed it, placing it in her kit. She turned around to speak to Horatio when a loud noise was heard; they looked up and around wondering what it was. Horatio immediately recognised the sound and almost jumped forward and took a hold of her arm.


	3. Chapter 3

“Zoë, get out!” Horatio yelled as several more noises were heard, then an almighty rumble sounded as they began to make their way out. Horatio had a hold of Zoë as they ran, the house was shaking. They could see that the house was going to collapse, and they were no-where near the exit.   
Zoë spotted the sturdy looking table in the dining room; she pulled on Horatio and almost dragged him into the dining room, he turned to her in confusion as his heart thumped against his chest wall. The house was coming down as she pushed Horatio on the floor under the table and dropped her kit. As they hit the floor, the whole house came down.   
3 of the table legs had broken, their legs hadn’t made it fully under, and the end of the table was crushing both of their legs as they interlocked. The house was reduced to rubble.  
Horatio’s left arm and Zoë’s right arm had gotten trapped by the heavy rubble that had fallen and shifted under the table. Zoë’s left arm had gotten pinned to the floor at the end of the table by rubble as she tried to protect Horatio’s head.   
Zoë’s body was laying on Horatio’s as they lay there still and silent. The area silenced as the rubble settled and dust began circulating in the small space that occupied the area around them. 3 floors of the house had come down, including the loft. It had left debris everywhere. Horatio could feel Zoë’s body on top of his; he felt her body move with the rising and falling of his chest.   
His heart beat rapidly as his first thought was about Zoë. He couldn’t care less about himself. He wanted to know that she was okay.   
“Zoë?” He asked quietly.  
“Sweetheart?” He asked again. It was pitch black, he couldn’t see anything. All he could feel was her on him.   
“Sweetheart?” He asked again as he brought his right hand up to her waist and rubbed her side. His heart rate going wild as all manner of things ran through his head as he began to panic, fearing the worst.  
“Zoë, sweetheart.” He said as he brought his hand up and placed two fingers on her neck to feel for a pulse. “Sweetheart, answer me.” He said getting a little stressed.  
He finally felt her pulse, he let go of her neck and gently lifted her head by her jaw and turned it, so her mouth was against his cheek. He could feel her breath against his cheek and he let out a sigh of relief. He began to cough from the dust, he soon cleared his airways. He heard Zoë let out a small moan and she began to move a little. Horatio held her head up to try and keep her airways clear as best he could.   
“Sweetheart, can you hear me?” He asked softly, as he began to feel the pain as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. His legs were the worst, but his arm wasn’t far off.   
“Yeah” Zoë said softly as she slowly exhaled as she began to come around and move her head.   
“Are you okay?” He asked.  
“Mmm… what happened?” She mumbled as she tried to move.   
“Sweetheart, you need to stay calm, don’t move, okay? We’re in a building that’s collapsed. Stay still for me beautiful. We’re going to be okay.” Horatio said softly as he brought his hand back down and placed it on her waist. She picked her head up and her face brushed against Horatio’s.   
“Horatio?” She asked as her breathing accelerated.   
“Yes, try and stay calm beautiful.” He said softly.  
“Are you okay?” He asked and she coughed twice.   
“I can’t move my arms or legs Horatio.” She said against his lips and then hissed in pain. “Are you okay?” She asked worrying about him.  
“Okay sweetheart, don’t worry, I’m good. I’m going to try and get my phone, okay? Try not to move.” He said as his hand slid off her waist and into his front right trouser pocket. He pulled it out and it illuminated a small part of the area. They looked around, they could see that the table had collapsed and rubble was everywhere, dust particles flew past the screen. They saw the strain on the one remaining leg and the rubble which had come under the table, under the bit that was held up by the leg. He looked at his phone.   
“No signal.” He sighed.   
“Try mine; it’s in my right breast pocket.” She whispered against his lips in severe pain.   
“Okay sweetheart, stay still, it doesn’t look too stable.” Horatio said as Zoë tried to pull herself up slightly to create a gap between their bodies so Horatio could get his hand into her pocket. He pulled her phone out and looked at the signal. She continued to try and stay up, so she didn’t add more pressure to him.  
“No signal again” Horatio sighed and then coughed a little.  
“Put the torch on, it’ll last a good few hours.” She said as he clicked the torch on and placed the phone on the ground beside them, brightening up the area. Zoë turned her head and coughed again, Horatio could feel her stomach muscles tightening as she coughed.   
“Are you okay sweetheart?” Horatio asked.  
“Yeah” she said softly as she hissed in pain again at the pain in both of her arms and legs, Horatio also hissed in pain.  
“Are you okay honey?” She asked against his ear as she dropped her head, unable to keep herself up anymore.   
“Yeah” he said softly.   
“Can you get a look at our legs?” Zoë asked.  
“I can try.” He said as Zoë moved her head to the other side of his while he tried to look down.  
“Looks like we’re both pinned under the table” Horatio said looking back up at her.  
“Is that… is that a ceramic bathtub on my arm?” She questioned, looking up at her left arm. Horatio moved his head a little to try and get a look, his eyes widened in shock, seeing a bathtub on its side crushing Zoë’s small wrist and hand. He immediately knew that she had to be in quite a bit of pain.   
“Sweetheart, just try and stay calm. It’s all going to be alright.” He said softly, hoping to keep her calm. She took a deep breath, trying to bear the pain and then nodded at Horatio.   
“I love you sweetheart and we’re going to get out of this okay.” Horatio said softly, his lips brushing against hers. Horatio could feel the pain surging up and down his legs, but he tried to push it back.  
“I love you too.” She said as she then hissed in pain again. ‘Try and think about something else, you can do it Zoë.’ She thought to herself. She turned her head to cough again, coughing produced more pain in her arms and legs. ‘Ignore the pain you wimp. It’s not that bad. Stop being such a fool.’ She grew angry at herself and took another deep breath, and began to ignore the pain.   
“Are you okay sweetheart?” Horatio asked softly.  
“Yes, I’m good. Are you okay? I’m not hurting you, am I?” She questioned.   
“You’re not hurting me and I’m okay.” Horatio said quietly, also telling himself to bear the pain.   
“I think I can get my right arm out.” She said softly as she shuffled herself around a little.  
“I think I can too. On the count of 3. 1…2…3.” They both yanked at their arms and they both came free. Zoë’s left arm was still trapped, there was no way she was getting her arm from under the tub unless someone picked the tub up. The table came down as the last leg broke. Zoë brought her right hand up over the top of Horatio’s head to try and protect him as best she could, their faces in contact all the time. Horatio put both of his hands up on the back of Zoë’s head to protect her. The table stopped about an inch above Zoë, the rubble that had fallen and rolled under the table had wedged itself, so the table didn’t fall anymore, but it still looked highly unstable. They both hissed in pain from the table shifting on their legs.   
“How’s your arm?” She questioned in pain.  
“It’s okay, only a few scrapes and bruises.” He said softly as he let go of her head, he knew the back of his hand was bleeding and it really stung, but he didn’t want to worry her. Zoë’s arm was just resting on the floor beside Horatio’s head.  
“How about yours?” He questioned.  
“I don’t know, I can’t feel it Horatio.” She said as she lifted her head to look over at her arm, it seemed to be bloody, but they couldn’t see the full extent as her jacket was covering most of her hand. She turned her head away from him and coughed a little more.  
“Okay sweetheart, I’m just going to have a look at it.” Horatio said as he moved her jacket sleeve up.  
“It doesn’t look too bad beautiful. Can you move your fingers?” He asked. She tried.  
“No, it’s just numb.” She said looking back over at her hand.   
“Okay beautiful, don’t worry about it. It’s probably from the pressure of the debris, it’ll come back soon.” Horatio said softly trying not to panic her. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and his left on her waist to keep her calm. She turned her head away from him again and began to cough more.  
“Zoë, sweetheart, are you okay?” He asked worrying about her. She stopped coughing and turned back to him. Their faces not even an inch away from each other as the table was so low now, she couldn’t move further away. He could hear her quietly wheezing and he coughed a little also.  
“Horatio, the dust” she said as she turned and coughed again.   
“Asthma?” He questioned, not sure if it was just the dust or if the dust was aggravating her asthma. She nodded as she stopped coughing and her wheezing got louder.   
“It’s been getting worse… since we… went under.” She said between staggered breaths, trying to stay calm. ‘Stay calm, just stay calm. You’ll panic him, just stay calm. Slow deep breaths.’ She thought to herself, not wanting to panic Horatio.  
“Sweetheart, where’s your inhaler?” He asked softly, but she heard the slight panic in his voice. He could feel her struggling to breathe and it was quickly getting worse, Horatio was struggling himself, let alone Zoë’s asthma aggravating the situation.  
“My other… pocket” she said against his lips. He could feel her muscles contract as she took each breath; it was telling him that this was a bad one.   
“Which one?” Horatio asked as he checked her jacket pockets on the outside with both of his hands.   
“Inside, on the left… your right” she said as she weakened. Horatio pulled out the inhaler.  
“I’ve got it, what do I do?” He’d observed her take it a few times, but it had all escaped his head as his mind went blank and began to panic more so.  
“Calm down Horatio… I need you to take the cap… off. Then on 3 push the canister down.” She said brokenly.  
“Got it? Just calm… down” she said looking at him in the dim light.  
“Yes, okay sweetheart.” He said calming himself, knowing he had to remain calm for her sake. He popped the cap off and Zoë turned her head to his hand. She placed her mouth over the mouth piece and Horatio began to count to 3.  
“1…2…3” on the count of two, Zoë began to inhale and on 3 Horatio pressed the canister. She held her breath a little then released it. They repeated it again and waited for it to work. She began to breathe easier but not to full capacity, she knew she’d quickly get worse if it wasn’t resolved there and then.  
“Horatio, I need it again, please.” She asked as he saw her still struggling. They did it again and she calmed herself down, and breathing became easier. He had placed his left hand on her waist in some vain hope of comforting her, even if it comforted her a little.   
“Okay?” Horatio asked, then coughed himself.  
“Yeah, thank you honey.” She whispered against his lips. Horatio slipped the inhaler into his jacket pocket, for easy access in case it was needed later.   
“Sweetheart, I need you to tell me when you first start to feel an attack coming on, okay? You do not need to hide it from me.” He said quietly.  
“I know, I’m sorry honey” she said softly, knowing she needed to tell him for both of their sakes.  
“I know this probably isn’t the time for it, but why do you hide it from everyone? Your asthma doesn’t change anything about you, sweetheart.” Horatio said softly, but he needed to know because he thought he could help her overcome it. She looked at him for a few seconds and thought. ‘Do I tell him? He’s going to find out sooner or later, I do trust him… but it’ll only lead him to more questions.’ She thought to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

He knew she was thinking about it. She exhaled as she looked down at him.  
“My… my father used–” she began but ended up yelping as the bathtub shifted on her arm. She gritted her teeth and put her forehead to Horatio’s, clenching her eyes shut as she whimpered. Horatio had heard the bathtub shift and knew it was causing her more pain.  
“Okay sweetheart, it’s okay.” Horatio calmly said, seeing the pain on her face.  
“No it’s not, my wrist. Ahh, it’s broken, I know it is.” She said gritting her teeth.   
“I know sweetheart, take a deep breath for me.” Horatio said, knowing she was in excruciating pain for her to admit something like that. She nodded and took a broken deep breath.  
‘Suck it up, come on.’ She told herself as she took another deep breath.   
“My father used to say that my asthma made me weak, I believed him, and I guess I still do.” She said softly, looking down at him.   
“That’s not true sweetheart, it doesn’t make you weak at all.” Horatio said, horrified that someone would say such a thing to a child, but he knew just how she felt.   
“How long have we been here for?” She asked trying to change the subject as Horatio placed both of his hands on her waist.   
“Roughly 25 minutes” he said looking at the time on his watch. “Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me, your asthma doesn’t make you weak. Okay? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Horatio said in an effort to get her to believe him. She swallowed.  
“Do you think they’ve found us?” Zoë asked, changing the subject again.  
“I don’t know sweetheart.” He said honestly, hoping that they had found them.   
Zoë nodded and took another deep breath, she gritted her teeth.  
‘She’s in pain because of me; I didn’t get her out of here quick enough! It’s my fault. We’d be dead if it wasn’t for her quick thinking! She’d be dead because of me. I should have checked the house out myself before letting her in. I can’t deal with this anymore, she can’t be put in this much danger every day of her life! I can’t take it, she’s hurt, I can’t stand back and do nothing. She needs to be out of field work.’ Horatio thought to himself.   
“Sweetheart…” Horatio said, about to bring it up with her. ‘She won’t agree to it you idiot! What’s the point in bringing it up? I’ll only stress her out even more!’ Horatio began to think to himself.   
“Yes handsome?” She replied, knowing a question was going to follow. ‘I can’t dictate her life; she’ll hate me for trying to control what she does and doesn’t do, it’ll almost certainly push her away. I’d be no better than the criminals we deal with.’ He thought to himself, she saw him thinking and let him get on with it. ‘Before long, we’re not going to be so lucky, I cannot watch that happen. Then again, she’s in just as much danger staying at home. If she stayed at home, she’d be away from me and anything could happen and I wouldn’t know about it. I can’t dictate her life and that is the end of it.’ He snapped out of his daze and looked up at her.   
“Finished?” She asked softly, seeing him alert and no longer thinking.  
“Quite.” Horatio replied with a small reassuring smile.   
“What were you going to say then?” She questioned.   
“Nothing sweetheart” Horatio said softly.   
“It is obviously something handsome, you thought about it for some time.” She said softly, trying to keep her mind off the pain.  
“It’s really nothing, sweetheart.” He said softly as he delicately rubbed both of her sides. She nodded slightly as she took a deep breath. Horatio tried to hide his pain from her, he felt the table on his legs, he could feel the pressure of it. It was sending constant pain up and down his legs,   
The dust, darkness, pain and entrapment were starting to take their toll on her and he knew it, he could see it happening right in front of him.   
“Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me. We’re going to be okay, we’re going to get out of here and everything will work out.” Horatio said softly, hoping to comfort her. He felt her body tense a little.   
“Horatio, the size of this area with half of the air filled with dust and the two of us breathing at this rate… we’re not going to last much longer. Before they get to us we’ll probably be gone.” She said bluntly.   
“Sweetheart, I do not want to hear you talking like that. Please.” Horatio said, slightly sternly, slightly hurt, the last thing he wanted was to hear was her give up. She noticed that he was quite hurt by her comment.   
“I’m really sorry; I didn’t mean to say that. I just… I just… I’m stressed Horatio, I’m in pain, I’m crushing you, you’re hurting. I can’t deal with this.” She said honestly, feeling herself on the verge of breaking down.   
“I know sweetheart, I know it’s difficult. But Ryan and Eric have probably come back already as we’ve not returned, okay? They’re probably out there now. I love you Zoë, and I promise you that we’re going to get through this.” Horatio said calmly, knowing she needed him.  
“Zoë, I promise you that we’ll get out of here.” He said sincerely. She took a deep breath, beginning to believe him. She nodded her head a little, looking into his eyes, still needing a little bit of support.  
“I need you to trust me. We’ll get out of here.” He said certain of himself.   
“Thank you Horatio, I couldn’t do this without you.” Zoë said softly and then she swallowed, feeling on the brink of tears still, mainly from the stress of pain and not being able to move.  
“Just take a deep breath for me beautiful, I’m here for you and always will be.” Horatio said softly, looking up into her eyes. She nodded and took a deep breath, feeling a lot better after she exhaled.   
Eric and Ryan had tried calling the both of them but couldn’t get through, so they went back to the scene to see what was up as they hadn’t returned to the lab. They found the house collapsed and instantly radioed for back up and fire & rescue.   
They both started to shout for Horatio and Zoë, as well as the two police officers which were on guard, outside the house.   
The air was getting a little thinner around the area where Horatio and Zoë were trapped, neither of them had noticed though.  
Fire & Rescue turned up and began to clear the rubble, shouting out the names of all 4 persons trapped. Often stopping to have discussions about how it was best to combat certain tricky parts.  
Zoë tried to lift herself up again as she felt like she was crushing Horatio.  
“Zoë, you need to stay still.” Horatio said pulling her back down to him.  
“Horatio, I’m crushing you!” She said worrying about him.  
“You’re not, now please just relax.” He said reassuring her.   
“I’m sorry honey; I just don’t want to hurt you.” She said against his lips.  
“You’re not hurting me sweetheart.” He assured her.   
The table shifted and applied more pressure onto the both of them, pushing Zoë onto Horatio more.  
“I’m sorry.” She hissed in pain apologising for hurting Horatio.  
“It’s not your fault sweetheart.” He hissed back, feeling the table crush his legs more so. Zoë’s forehead was against Horatio’s as she began to laugh a little.  
“Sweetheart?” He asked confused.  
“I’m sorry handsome, I’m just thinking.” She said as she tried to stop the small laughter, she couldn’t help it, her mind had begun to wander as a mechanism to distract herself from the stress of the situation.  
“Thinking about what?” He asked curious and completely confused as to why she’d be laughing in a situation like this.  
“About the situation, if it had been Ryan or Eric here instead of you, I think it could have been quite awkward…” She said with a small smile at him. “And if it was either of them here instead of me.” She said with a small chuckle again, imagining either of them lay on Horatio.   
“I don’t think either of them would have thrown themselves on me…” He said with a small smile.   
She laughed again against his lips; her laughter was soon reduced to pain as the pain shot through her body again. The table shifted a little more pushing Zoë onto Horatio a little more. She gritted her teeth and inhaled, scrunching her eyes closed. Horatio also gritted his teeth in pain, but he was more concerned about her.  
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” He asked placing his hands on her waist. She took a breath and opened her eyes.  
“I’m okay.” She said obviously in pain.   
“Is it the table? What is it? Your arm? Legs?” He questioned.  
“No… I’m good.” She said unclenching her teeth and relaxing a little more.  
Back outside, they had found the two officers, deceased. They carried on searching through the rubble, routinely calling out their names.  
Zoë tried to move but was again struck with pain.   
“Sweetheart, tell me what the problem is.” Horatio asked seeing her discomfort.  
“It’s nothing.” She said exhaling.   
“Sweetheart, I need you to tell me, even if it’s nothing.” He said softly. She exhaled against his lips.  
“I think… I think your badge is cutting me. That’s all, it’s not exactly the worst of our problems right now…” She said with a small smile trying to reassure him that everything was okay.  
“Okay sweetheart, I’m going to try and move it.” Horatio said softly as he slid his left, damaged hand between them and over their hips, he pulled his badge off. Horatio turned his head to cough a little and then looked back up at her.  
“Thank you.” She said as he pulled it out. He placed it on the side and felt some blood on his hand, she was obviously bleeding a little.   
“Thank you for telling me.” Horatio said softly. They moved a little more to try and get a little more comfortable without moving the table. A large smile then appeared across Zoë’s face as she chuckled a little. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She muttered under her breath with a smile.  
“What are you thinking about now?” Horatio questioned curious again.  
“No no, it’s okay honey. It’s nothing.” She said with a small smile.   
“Zoë…” He said with a small smile.  
“No it’s okay.” She said with a smile. She got herself under control.   
“So you’re not going to share with me?” Horatio asked huskily, seeing that mischievous look in her eyes, he’d try anything to distract her from the stress of the situation.   
“Believe me honey, we’re already sharing it.” She said with a smile and then turned her head to cough again. ‘What?’ He thought to himself confused. She continued to cough which stopped Horatio from thinking.  
“Sweetheart, are you okay? Do you need your inhaler again?” He questioned.  
“Erm… that may be best.” She said as she stopped coughing and looked at him.  
“The last dose should still be keeping my airways clear; I don’t understand why I need it again.” She said confused and then turned to cough again.   
“I don’t really know much about asthma, but perhaps it’s just the sheer amount of dust that’s flying around? It’s enough to choke me and I don’t have asthma.”   
“You’re probably right.” She said as she turned to face him once she’d stopped coughing again.   
“Okay sweetheart, here we go.” He said softly, getting the inhaler out of his pocket. They did it twice and waited for her to recover before putting it away again.  
“Thank you handsome, that’s much better.” She said and he put the inhaler back in his pocket.  
“No problem sweetheart.” He said softly. A few minutes passed.  
“I think… I think I can feel my thumb.” She said softly looking over at her limp hand.   
“That’s good news.” Horatio said as he placed his hand over hers.  
“Can you feel me touching you?” Horatio asked as he touched her fingers.  
“Just the thumb” she said in discomfort.   
“Okay, well it’s a start.” He said softly.  
Back outside, they were still looking, going through the rubble and shouting out for Horatio and Zoë.  
Horatio felt Zoë’s breathing ease and slow down calmly. She turned her head and looked at the light coming from the phone in a daze. Horatio just looked straight up and felt her breathing calm as it also calmed him down. She then took a sharp breath as she closed her eyes tightly.   
She was beginning to have flashbacks brought on by the stress caused by the situation. She saw Horatio lying on his office floor barely conscious, she then saw him in the hospital bed resting then suddenly he began to seize. Horatio felt her heart beat against her chest, feeling it pound against his chest as her breathing accelerated. Her eyes opened as they glazed over, pulling her further into the daze.  
“Horatio!” She almost shouted out as a tear fell from her eye.   
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong.” He asked.   
She didn’t break from the daze and she was ripped from that flashback into another where she had just woken up in the hummer after the crash and she peered over at Ryan, unconscious. Her breathing remained erratic which began to worry Horatio. ‘She’s going to send herself into another attack’ he thought to himself.  
“Zoë” he called out seeing her in distress. She began to see images of Ryan bloody and hurt and then the rescue team took him from her, causing more distress.  
“Ryan.” She whispered as she was trapped in the daze. Horatio could see the side of her face and the pain on it.   
Zoë was assaulted with yet again more flashbacks. She saw Ryan fall off the decking and knock himself out on the boat as his limp body fell into the water. She saw herself dive in after him and pull him out. She saw his unconscious body lying on the decking.   
She took another deep breath with a lump in her throat.   
She then saw Ryan collapse in the lab and his lifeless body as she ran over to him. She then felt him deliriously run his hand up her inner thigh and her muscles tightened as she took a sharp deep breath.  
“No, RYAN!” She almost screamed as another tear fell from her eye.  
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. Listen to my voice.” Horatio heard her scream Ryan’s name and his mind was set back to the crash, it had the same tone of alarm. He knew she was thinking about that, he could see that she was having flashbacks and there was nothing he could do.  
He felt her whole body tense as she tried to push herself up, off Horatio.   
“Zoë, don’t move. Sweetheart, listen to me, take a deep breath and calm down. I’ve got you.” Horatio said loudly, hoping it would pull her from the daze.   
“Get off me! Jack, get off me!” She raised her voice, trying to push away from Horatio. Horatio’s heart was pounding, he hated to see her in such mental pain.  
“Get off me!” She yelled again as she forcefully knocked the table, causing it to shift on their legs, she didn’t even seem to feel the pain, she was too deep in the flashbacks. Horatio yelped in pain as he pulled her down onto him forcefully, putting his arm around her back, holding her down on him. He hated to restrain her, but he had to for her own good, for both of their sakes.   
“Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me. You’re okay.” Horatio softly said as he gently cupped her face with one hand.   
She still remained dazed but hearing his voice seemed to calm her down, he felt her breathing calm and no longer felt her heart thump against his chest. She no longer struggled to get away from him so Horatio loosened his grip around her back.   
“Sweetheart, you’re okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you beautiful.” Horatio whispered warmly, gently caressing her face with his thumb. He felt her muscles relax as she was brought into another flashback; she remembered the first time Horatio called her beautiful, she then saw Eric, Ryan and herself in the lab having a laugh which made her smile, she then saw her first kiss with Horatio at her place and the previous night where they had both told each other they loved each other for the first time.  
“Sweetheart?” Horatio questioned and she then broke from the daze and looked at him with a small smile.  
“I love you.” She said before delicately kissing him, he kissed her back softly, with his hand still on her face. She gently parted her lips and bit his lip and it instantly turned them both on. Horatio parted his lips as he gave her an affectionate kiss. Their breathing accelerated along with their heart rates. Horatio could feel himself energise down in his trousers, as did Zoë.  
“I think we should stop there handsome…” She said with a cheeky grin breaking from the kiss.   
“I think… you’re right.” Horatio said with a small smile looking up into her dark brown eyes as she raised an eyebrow. They gave each other one last tender kiss and smiled at each other.  
“What… what were you thinking about just then?” Horatio asked softly.  
“Things I’d rather forget and then things I never want to forget.” She said with a small half smile.   
“Ah, I see.” Horatio said understanding her.   
“What do you never want to forget?” Horatio questioned with a small smile, curious.  
“I don’t think you even need to ask that question.” She said with a cheeky smile, as her head then began to feel a little light. Horatio smiled at her realising what she meant.  
“Are you feeling okay?” She questioned, wondering if it was just her that was beginning to get a little lightheaded.   
“Yeah, are you?” He replied a little confused.  
“Yeah” she said softly. The air was getting thinner and she knew it, she just hoped that someone would find them before it was too late. ‘We’re either going to run out of air or get crushed, I know it. I’d just rather that we run out of air.’ She thought to herself.   
“Are you sure sweetheart?” He asked as he ran his hand from her face down to her neck and gently stroked the back of her neck. She closed her eyes and took a small breath, almost hypnotised by his hand.  
“Yeah” she said with a smile. She rested her head against his, forehead to forehead as she closed her eyes. He felt her completely relax and ran his hand through her hair, relaxing her further. Horatio was now beginning to feel a little lightheaded himself. He blinked a few times, she felt the flutter of his eyes and she picked her head up.  
“Honey, are you sure you’re okay?” She asked softly.  
“Yeah” he said trying to brush it off.  
“No you’re not… you’re feeling a little lightheaded aren’t you?” She said softly.  
“How… how do you know that?” He said a little confused.   
“Because I am too, I think the air is getting thinner.” Zoë admitted as she put her head back against his.  
“Just take slow deep breaths.” She whispered against his lips and then she felt him exhale. She lifted herself up slightly so he could use the full capacity of his lungs, leaning on her right elbow. He turned his head to cough and then looked back up at her.  
“Stay still” Horatio said.  
“Trust me Horatio.” She said softly with her head against his still. She wanted him to get as much oxygen as he could, she didn’t care if it hurt her more. She began to feel some feeling in her index finger as she moved her arm.   
“Slow, deep breaths” she said softly brushing her lips against his. They closed their eyes.  
“I love you.” Horatio said softly against her lips.   
“I love you too.” She said and then she heard some movement and she lifted her head to listen intensely. She heard Eric shout their names.  
“Honey, I need you to just concentrate on your breathing, don’t shout okay?” She said to him, not wanting him to waste the oxygen he was getting.   
“Eric!!!” She yelled. “Ryan!” She yelled, over and over again.   
The both of them were getting tired and Zoë stopped yelling and then turned back to Horatio who was falling asleep.   
“Horatio, handsome, I need you to stay with me. Hold on for me, I can hear them out there.” She said softly placing her head against his. She could feel his breath becoming shallower.   
“Horatio, I need you to stay with me!” She said louder and he opened his eyes.  
“Stay with me, you’re okay.” She said against his lips looking into his eyes.   
“Deep breaths, okay?” She said getting really tired herself.   
“Yeah” Horatio said softly and sleepily. He focused on her and it seemed to bring him around a little more.   
“We’re going to be okay.” He said softly.   
“I know handsome, I know.” She said softly against his lips.   
“Just keep breathing for me.” She said softly still keeping herself off Horatio’s chest.   
“I’ve got Zoë’s kit! They must be around here somewhere!” Ryan shouted.   
“Ryan!” Zoë yelled 3 times, but he couldn’t hear her. She turned back to Horatio who was still holding on.  
“Just concentrate… on your breathing” she said softly as she stroked the top of his head with her finger and thumb. She was beginning to get very dizzy and lightheaded, as was Horatio. They were finding it hard to get the air they needed.   
“You stay with me.” She said to him almost forcefully. She felt him lightly grip her waist with his right hand.  
“That’s it, you… you stay with me.” She said resting her head on his again, knowing that they weren’t going to last much longer.  
“Stay with me.” She said as Horatio closed his eyes.  
“Stay with… me… Horatio” She said a little louder gasping for air. She gently stroked his forehead with her thumb.  
“Horatio! Stay with… me handsome!” She said loudly.   
“Horatio! Don’t do this to me! Horatio!?” She said loudly as she moved her arm and took his pulse with her index finger. She could feel his weak pulse.  
“Horatio” she whispered, feeling like she was going to pass out. She turned her head and used her cheek to feel his breath. He wasn’t breathing. She used her thumb to open his mouth and pulled his chin up. She shuffled up as much as she could, bearing the pain, not caring if it caused more pain, she needed to help him.   
She pinched his nose shut and sealed her mouth over his and gave him a shallow rescue breath, it was the best she could do. She let his chest fall and then repeated it with another shallow breath. She was beginning to lose consciousness herself. She took one long deep breath and sealed her mouth over his and exhaled into his mouth, once she finished exhaling her body fell against his and she lost consciousness and stopped breathing as well. Her head was beside his as they both lay there limp and not breathing. Her hand had fallen down and was laying at the top of Horatio’s head.   
“I’ve found them!” Eric yelled and Fire & Rescue came running over along with Ryan. They could see their feet.  
“H! Zoë!” Eric and Ryan both yelled repeatedly. The fire officers made sure it was safe to move the table and that no rubble would fall and injure them once the table was lifted. They lifted the table as 2 paramedics ran over in the clear path. Air rushed in and surrounded the both of them. Ryan and Eric got under the table as the fire officers lifted it off them and placed it down away from them. Ryan and Eric placed their hands on both of their necks.  
“I’ve got a pulse.” Eric said feeling for Horatio’s pulse.  
“Same here!” Ryan said loudly with his hand on Zoë’s neck. They very gently lifted Zoë off Horatio and laid her flat after they got the bath off Zoë’s arm. The both of them checked for their breathing.  
“I’ve got nothing.” Eric said, placing his cheek near Horatio’s mouth and nose.   
“Neither.” Ryan said looking up at him.  
The paramedics reached them and moved Ryan and Eric out of the way. The paramedics bagged the both of them, forcing air into their lungs. Horatio was first to come around, the paramedic took the bag off and began to check him over. But Horatio had rolled over to Zoë who was still unconscious.   
“Zoë!” He said panicking about her, still feeling dizzy himself.  
“H, she’s okay.” Eric said softly as he crouched down beside Horatio and pulled him back down onto his back. Zoë began to cough as she woke up and the paramedic pulled the bag away. She looked over at Horatio, lifting her head and let out a long breath in relief. Horatio looked over at her as Eric held him down.  
A small smile appeared across her face as she looked over at Horatio and then dropped her head back to the floor as he took her hand in his. Her fingers interlocked with his as they both relaxed back and took long deep breaths. They looked up at the blue sky, happy to see it once again.   
The paramedics then began to check them both over thoroughly, they bandaged their legs and both of Zoë’s hands and Horatio’s damaged hand.  
Neither of them spoke, partially in shock and partially overpowered by the feeling of relief. The paramedics then explained that they needed to go to hospital and described how they were going to get them out of the rubble.   
“I can walk; I don’t need to be carried.” Zoë said forcefully, as she coughed. She didn’t want to be restrained in anyway.  
“We don’t know the full extent of your injuries; you could well have fractures in both of your legs. We can’t chance you exacerbating your injuries by walking. You need to trust us.” One of the paramedics explained calmly.   
“I’m telling you that I don’t have fractures, they are just bruised.” Zoë said as she sat up sharply, still coughing slightly.  
“Miss Chambers, I don’t suggest that you move.” The paramedic said calmly, knowing that she’s feeling vulnerable as she’s just been trapped, she didn’t want to stress her out anymore.  
“Sweetheart, listen to her.” Horatio said as the paramedic continued to check him out.   
The inhaler slid out of his pocket as the paramedic moved his jacket around.  
“Sir, do you have asthma?” The paramedic asked as both Ryan and Eric stared at it confused.  
“No.” He said looking at the paramedic then looked over at Zoë, who turned and looked at him.  
“Then why do you have this?” The paramedic questioned.  
“Because it’s mine - I couldn’t take it myself, my hands…” She said as she glared at the paramedic, pissed off that he had ratted her out.   
She then looked up at Ryan and Eric who laid soft eyes on her, confused why they hadn’t known. She sighed blinking slowly, she took a breath and then turned back to look at the underneath of her legs. Zoë began to get up when Horatio shot up sharply and placed his hand on her shoulder preventing her from getting up.   
“Horatio” she said as she turned to him.   
“Sweetheart, listen to me. You need to listen to them.” Horatio said softly looking into her light panicked brown eyes. She turned her head and coughed again. Ryan walked around and crouched down beside her on the other side and placed his hand on her back.  
“Zoë, listen to them please.” Ryan pleaded. She looked up at him and then looked around. She looked back at him then back over at Horatio.   
“Sir, will you please lay down?” The paramedic asked.  
“No, I’m fine.” Horatio said softly looking around to the paramedic, silently telling him to give him a minute. The paramedic gave him a nod.   
“Sweetheart, look at me.” Horatio said softly and she looked around at him. Still coughing slightly, he did too.  
“First off, I think you need your inhaler, secondly, we’re not going to leave you. Please just listen to them.” Horatio said softly, trying to get through to her.   
“I don’t need to be carried.” She insisted looking at him.  
“They’re trying to help you.” Horatio said gently, not wanting to stress her out anymore. She just glared at him.   
“What if you walk, but we help you?” The paramedic said softly leaning over behind her, holding her hand out to the other paramedic with her inhaler. Zoë looked down thinking and then nodded. The male paramedic handed the female paramedic the inhaler, seeing Zoe struggle to breathe.   
“Okay honey, first I need you to take this, I’m going to help you, okay?” The paramedic said as she held out the inhaler in front of her and kneeled beside Ryan. Zoë looked at Ryan and Eric and sighed looking down, she began to have flashbacks again.   
“I’m not weak.” She said quietly shaking her head. She looked up at Horatio and he saw the discomfort in her eyes.  
“Sweetheart, just take it. You’re not weak.” He assured her, as he gently rubbed her back. She closed her eyes and found herself in her past, the flashbacks were becoming more detailed.   
“I’m not weak!” She said louder and stood up quickly on her feet as she opened her eyes. Ryan rose just as quickly as she did placing his hand on her shoulder. She began to walk away.  
“Wait here.” Ryan mouthed to the paramedics as he quickly walked after her. Eric did the same and stood the other side. Horatio rose to his feet against the advice of the paramedics.  
“Hold on please, it’s complicated.” Horatio said as he struggled over to Zoë.   
Eric and Ryan had stopped Zoë from walking and both had their hands placed gently on her shoulders.  
“I’m not weak.” She said looking up at them with tears almost forming in her eyes. Her wheezing was loud enough for them to hear from a meter or so away now.   
“We know that and because you have asthma, doesn’t mean you’re weak.” Ryan said softly.   
“Yes it does, I don’t need it.” Zoë argued with him, replaying her father’s words in her head. Horatio reached them and Eric stepped away knowing that if anyone was going to get through to her, it would be Horatio, or possibly Ryan. Horatio took a strong stance in front of her and she looked up at him, struggling to breathe still.  
“I’m not… weak, I don’t need it.” She said quietly. Horatio placed his hand on the back of her neck.  
“Sweetheart, no-one thinks you’re weak, you’re the strongest woman we know. Just because your asthma is flaring up, doesn’t make you weak.” Horatio said softly looking into her watery brown eyes. Her wheezing was rather loud now. The feeling in her right hand began to come back, but she quickly decided that it was better off being numb as more pain was added.  
“H is right; none of us think you’re weak. You’re twice as strong as me, and I’m willing to admit that.” Ryan said softly gently rubbing her back. She took a staggered breath and looked up at the both of them; they could see the oxygen deprivation on her lips which had a tinge of blue to them.   
She began to sway slightly from the dizziness. Both Horatio and Ryan instantly grabbed her and stabilised her between their bodies. Horatio looked back and gave the paramedics a nod; they could hear her wheezing from where they were stood.   
They rushed over. “Miss Chambers, we need to get you in the ambulance now.” One of the paramedics said as she stood in front of Zoë and placed a hand on Zoë’s face to lift it to see the full extent. She could see the cyanosis which was setting in. Zoë was beginning to grow extremely weak and if they weren’t holding her, she’d have fallen to the floor.   
“We need to get there now, her inhaler isn’t going to help, she’s too far gone.” The paramedic shouted as Ryan literally swung her around and up in his arms as he rushed over to the ambulance with the paramedic in front. The other paramedic helped Horatio along who was also trying to rush. Ryan gently laid Zoë down onto the bed as the paramedic got into to the ambulance. Horatio and the other paramedic got to the ambulance with Eric in tow. Eric had Zoë’s kit in his hand.  
“Eric, there’s evidence in her kit, get it to the lab please.” Horatio said softly looking back at Eric.   
“Sure thing H” Eric said as he walked over to his hummer.  
“H, I’m going to follow in my hummer.” Ryan said as he turned to Horatio when the paramedic unbuttoned Zoë’s shirt and placed the ECG monitor on her after she placed a nebulizer over Zoë’s mouth and nose. The paramedic helped Horatio in and he sat beside Zoë. The paramedic placed a pulse oximeter on Horatio’s finger and then on Zoë’s.   
“Lieutenant Caine, I need to put you on oxygen.” The paramedic said as the other one shut the doors and walked around to the drivers seat.   
“I’m fine, just look after Zoe.” Horatio insisted.  
“Sir, you need to be on oxygen.” The paramedic insisted, she then placed the oxygen mask over Horatio’s mouth and nose once he gave her a nod. Horatio reached out for Zoë’s hand, he held it tightly and Zoë squeezed his hand back. They began to move off and Ryan followed in the hummer.  
“She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?” Horatio asked the paramedic.  
“She’s going to be fine, her oxygen sats are coming up nicely.” The paramedic smiled at him.  
“Zoë, can you hear me?” The paramedic said as she leaned over and shone the light in her eyes.   
“Yes.” Zoë said quietly.   
“Can you explain to me what happened?” The paramedic asked as she listened to Zoë’s chest with her stethoscope.   
“We were caught in the house and it began to come down, we were trapped under the table, it was crushing our legs and arms. The air got thinner, Horatio… Horatio lost consciousness and stopped breathing.” She said as she looked over at him. “I… I gave him a few rescue breaths before I lost consciousness, and then you guys got here.” She said looking over at Horatio.  
“Okay, did you lose consciousness any time before that? You’ve had a bump to the head.” The paramedic said leaning over her putting the stethoscope down around her neck. Zoë looked back up to the paramedic.  
“No.” She said softly.  
“Zoë… she didn’t respond after the building came down, she was out for a minute or two, I think the table clipped her head as it came down.” Horatio said looking up at the paramedic.   
“Thank you Lieutenant” she said. Zoë looked over at Horatio, he saw the fear in her eyes.   
“Okay, just try and relax Zoë, we’re on our way to the hospital, just to get you both checked out.” The paramedic said sitting back writing a few things down. Zoë gripped Horatio’s hand harder as her heart rate increased.   
“Zoë, try and relax sweetheart, you’re going to be okay. Mr Wolfe’s going to meet us at the hospital and I’m here with you.” Horatio said assuring her. She looked over at him and took the mask off.  
“Zoë, you need to keep that on.” The paramedic said putting it back on observing her vitals.   
“Zoë, I need you to calm down for me honey.” The paramedic said. Zoë tried calming herself down, she repeatedly squeezed Horatio’s hand, he could see her distress and she was trying to hold it back.   
“Don’t worry beautiful, we’re here for you.” Horatio said softly. She closed her eyes and tried to fight her panicked response.   
Ryan had phoned the hospital and warned Nathan that Zoë was coming in so he could be ready for her.   
The ambulance was on the way there. Horatio kept Zoë calm. They arrived at the hospital where they were separated. The paramedics unloaded both Horatio and Zoë. They took Horatio in on a wheelchair. Nathan took over Zoë’s care while another doctor took over Horatio’s care.   
“Mr Wolfe, stay with Zoë.” Horatio said to Ryan who gave him a nod and rushed over to Zoë.  
“Acute asthma attack following entrapment in a collapsed building, patient has crush wounds to legs and both arms. Patient was able to walk at the scene.” The paramedic informed Nathan.   
“GCS is 15 from 3 at initial arrival at the scene, oxygen deprivation at scene until they were freed.” The paramedic said to Nathan.  
“Patient has crush wounds to both legs and one arm, GCS is 15 from 3 at the scene, was oxygen deprived, received oxygen via mask. Patient walked at the scene.” The other paramedic said to the other doctor.   
Nathan took Zoë off the nebulizer now that she had recovered and put her on oxygen. Ryan went through to the major unit with Zoë; Horatio was in a few cubicles down. Ryan looked anywhere but Zoë as her shirt was still open, Zoë was trying her best to remain calm, she took a few deep breaths when she felt herself beginning to lose it. A nurse came in and shut the curtain.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam turned around and saw Ryan standing there. Ryan glanced around to look at him.   
“Sam?” Ryan questioned as he fully turned to him.  
“Ah Ryan… I did think I recognised your name Zoë.” He said as he stood at the end of her bed as she lifted her head and her eyes widened as they locked with his.   
“No no no no, no.” She said shaking her head as she sat up. They both saw the sheer fear in her eyes. Sam backed off.  
“Zoë, I’m only here to help you, I can get a female nurse if you’d prefer that?” Sam asked softly. Zoë shook her head in fear as she began to tremble.   
“I just need to attach the ECG leads, that’s all.” Sam said softly spreading his arms in a gesture to show her that he’s not going to do anything else.  
“Zoë, he’s okay, really.” Ryan said softly stepping closer to Zoë. She shook her head looking at him.   
“Zoë, take a deep breath for me please.” Sam asked gently as he then took another step closer. Zoë sharply shuffled back up the bed and then pushed herself off, as she flicked the oxygen mask off.  
“Get away from me.” She warned as she backed up to the wall. Sam put his hands in the air in submission seeing the panic in her eyes and backed off.  
“Sam, could you give her some space please?” Ryan asked softly as he stepped over to Zoë placing a hand on her shoulder. He felt her trembling. She looked up at the ceiling trying to get some composure, still shaking and her breathing ragged.   
“Zoë, it’s okay.” Ryan said softly as he placed his other hand on her face and turned it to him. She shook her head and Ryan released his grip instantly.   
Horatio had gotten out of his bed hearing Zoë raise her voice; he walked through into her cubical.  
“Zoë, sweetheart” Horatio said softly as he approached her seeing her trembling violently and obviously in a lot of distress. He stood in front of Zoë as Ryan moved to the side. Horatio pulled her shirt closed gently and held it closed. With his other hand he placed it on her face. He sharply inhaled as his hand that held her shirt sent pain coursing up his arm.  
“Sweetheart, I need you to look at me.” He said softly, doing his best to ignore the pain. She looked down from the ceiling and looked at him with fear in her eyes. He could feel her trembling.   
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. Take a deep breath for me.” He said softly, she took a deep breath.  
“Well done, now take another. You’re okay. We’ve got you.” Horatio said softly as Nathan walked through and stopped, seeing Horatio trying to calm Zoë. She looked over at Nathan.  
“Zoë, focus on me.” Horatio said softly. “You’re okay, you’re okay.” He said caringly. He hissed in pain and then gritted his teeth, trying to hide it. The wounds on his legs began to sting and felt tight. ‘Pull yourself together, she needs you.’ He thought to himself. He exhaled and let the pain go with the breath.  
Ryan was none the wiser about their relationship; he’d seen Horatio calm Zoë before and thought nothing of it, but thought that his hand was a little too close to her chest for his own comfort.   
Zoë exhaled and nodded, her trembling began to cease as he lovingly brushed her cheek with his thumb.   
“Thank you.” She said after she swallowed.   
“No problem sweetheart, can you get back on the bed for me please?” Horatio asked softly, he didn’t think he could stand in that position any longer without his legs giving way from the pain. She nodded at him. He tried to help her over, doing his best, but Ryan did most of the work as he saw the extreme pain Horatio was experiencing.   
“Nathan, I want you to put me in the cubical next to her please?” Horatio asked as he turned his head to look at him, as he stood beside Zoë, still holding her shirt closed with his other hand as he dropped his damaged hand to his side. Ryan still felt a little uncomfortable, seeing Horatio’s hand so close to her chest. He’d rather have her shirt hang open. He didn’t understand why Horatio was suddenly holding her shirt closed when he’d never done it before or that Zoë didn’t seem bothered by his hand being so close.   
“I can try.” Nathan said as he walked back out. Zoë sat back as Ryan pulled the head of the bed up. She tried to button her shirt back up but her hands hurt too much. She looked to Horatio for some help.  
“Could you please do my shirt up?” She questioned shyly, glancing over to Ryan briefly before looking to Horatio.   
“Of course sweetheart” Horatio said softly as he looked down at her shirt and began to do them back up. Ryan tried to look anywhere but her shirt or Horatio’s hands. But he felt jealous that she had asked Horatio to do it for her. Horatio saw where his badge had cut her slightly, but it was only a small wound.  
“Okay?” Horatio questioned.   
“Yes, thank you.” She said as she put her head back. Horatio gave her a small smile.   
“Thank you.” She said as she looked at Ryan. He gave her a small smile and a nod.   
Nathan came back. “Horatio, I’ve managed to get you a bed next door, if you’d come through, please?” Nathan questioned and Horatio gave him a nod.   
“I’m right next door, okay?” Horatio said softly. She gave him a small nod. He looked at Ryan and silently told him to stay with her. Ryan gave him a nod too and Horatio walked through with Nathan.   
“Okay?” Ryan asked.   
“Yeah, thanks Ryan.” She said softly. Nathan walked back in.   
“Right, let’s get you sorted.” He said as he walked over.   
“I’m just going to attach the ECG leads, okay?” Nathan said softly as he looked back at Ryan.   
“I’ll wait–” Ryan began to say.  
“No, just turn around.” Zoë said. Ryan turned around and Nathan unbuttoned her shirt and attached the leads then did it back up as best he could, leaving the last 3 buttons undone.   
“I’m just going to look at your hands and arms now, okay?” Nathan said as he put gloves on then took a hold of Zoë’s left hand.   
“Can I?” Ryan asked.  
“Yes.” She said and Ryan turned back around. Nathan looked at the wounds and felt around. She hissed in pain. He asked her a few questions and she answered.   
“Does that hurt?” He asked as he felt her left wrist and she pulled her hand away from him.  
“Yes it hurts! It has been under a bathtub for the last hour!” She said getting stressed and agitated.   
“Okay, sorry, I know it’s a stupid question.” Nathan said backing off.   
“I’m going to send you for an x-ray on this, okay?” Nathan said looking at her swollen wrist.  
“Do you want some pain medication?” Nathan asked softly.  
“No.” She said bluntly. Horatio also refused pain medication.  
“Okay, I just think that it’s best.” Nathan said softly.  
“and I said no. Thank you.” Zoë said with a raised eyebrow.  
He reached over and picked up her right hand. He asked her a few questions as he looked at it and felt the bones. The feeling had returned back to the hand, but it hurt her a little.   
“You’ve just got bruised fingers and arm with a few cuts. Nothing serious” Nathan said softly. He gently washed and dressed the small wounds on her right hand and arm. It was mainly bruised. He then cleaned up her left, being very careful.  
“I need to cut your trousers off to get a good look at your legs.” Nathan asked softly.   
“Can’t I just take them off?” Zoë asked him.  
“Unfortunately not, I’ll get you a pair of lovely scrubs as my apology though?” He asked raising his eyebrows with a small smile.   
“Fine” She said as she rolled her eyes at him.   
“Could you turn over please?” Nathan asked.   
“You’ve got to be joking me?” Zoë asked raising an eyebrow.   
“No, your wounds are on the backs of your legs, so you need to turn around.” Nathan said softly.  
“Can I stand up?” Zoë asked.   
“No, it’s best if you lay down.” Nathan said as Zoë just looked at him. She stared at him with a raised eyebrow.  
“Well?” Nathan asked.   
“Fine” She said rolling her eyes again.   
“It may be best if you wait outside for this one Ryan, thank you.” Nathan said softly as he turned around and then a nurse came in. Zoë jumped in the bed and stared at her.   
“Nurse, will you please wait outside.” Nathan said seeing her come in. The nurse nodded and then went back out.   
“I’m sorry Zoë.” He apologised.   
“I’ll be right back.” Nathan said softly. He snapped the gloves off and threw them away and walked out. The nurse handed him the trolley once Nathan explained that it’s just him treating Zoë. Nathan came back in with the trolley.   
“Sorry about that, she was just bringing the trolley in.” Nathan said softly. He turned to Ryan again and Ryan looked over at Zoë. Zoë didn’t know what to say, she wanted him to stay, but she didn’t at the same time.   
“I’ll wait outside, if you need me, you give me a shout. Okay?” Ryan said softly. She gave him a small smile and nodded at him. Nathan pulled on some more gloves. He picked up a pair of scissors and she looked at him.  
“If you cut anything else off other than my trousers, even if it’s by accident, those scissors are going somewhere you won’t want them to be going, okay?” She said sternly but also letting him know that she was playing with him. They then heard Horatio chuckling from the next cubical.   
“Eavesdropping are we?” Zoë asked through the curtain as a grin appeared across her face, hearing his laugh alleviated some of her stress, just to know that he was there with her.  
“Something like that, just making sure Nathan actually gets his job done.” He said softly with a smile.   
“At least someone’s on my side” Nathan said with a smile as he lowered the head of the bed so it was flat.   
“Just going to take your shoes off” Nathan said as he pulled the sheet off her legs.   
“How on Earth do you work in those?” Nathan asked as he pulled her heels off.   
“I’m used to them.” Zoë said with a smile.   
“and you run after people in those? How are you not in here for broken ankles all the time?” Nathan asked with a smile as he placed them on the floor.   
“Because I’m a woman” she said with a smile.   
“You’re full of surprises.” He said with a smile at her.   
“Now you, can you please turn over? Be careful of that wrist.” Nathan said as he helped her to turn over.   
“Just going to cut your trousers off; and that’s it okay.” He said with a small smile.   
“Okay.” Zoë said softly as Horatio had his trousers cut off too by a nurse. He also asked if he could just take them off, he got the same response.   
Their trousers were thrown away and wounds dressed, they only had slight lacerations to the legs where the table had cut into them, they weren’t too deep and surgical glue was used to hold the wounds together with steri-strips, they were just mainly severely bruised. Horatio’s were worse, his legs were bigger than Zoë’s so took most of the table.   
“I’m going to send you for that x-ray now.” Nathan said as he snapped his gloves off.   
“You are going to get me some trousers first, aren’t you?” Zoë asked raising her eyebrow at him.  
“I’ll be right back with them.” Nathan said softly. He left, Ryan waited outside and then Nathan returned. He put them on the end of the bed.   
“If you need any help, give me a shout, okay?” He asked and she nodded at him as he walked back out. Zoë got up and pulled the scrubs on and then put her shoes back on. She then walked out of the cubical when Nathan walked out of Horatio’s. Nathan handed her the x-ray slip.   
“Come back when you’re finished… are you sure you’re okay to walk?”   
“I’m fine thank you Nathan.” She said with a small smile. She looked down.   
“Somehow, I think dirty shirts, oversized scrubs and heels don’t go together…” She said looking up at both Nathan and Ryan. Horatio walked out in a pair of scrubs.   
“You think you got it bad?” Horatio said looking down at the scrubs he was wearing. Zoë looked at him and a massive grin appeared across her face.   
“Well, we can look like dummies together then.” Zoë said trying to stifle a snigger.  
“You wouldn’t happen to have my handbag, would you Ryan?” She asked softly.   
“No sorry Zoë, I came straight here.”   
“Okay, not a problem.” She said with a smile as Nathan handed Horatio an x-ray slip.   
“What did you do?” Zoë asked seeing Horatio take the slip.   
“Possible broken finger, that’s it. Nothing to worry about.” He said softly.   
“Both of you come back here and wait in the cubicles.” Nathan said softly as he walked away.   
They walked off to x-ray.  
“Here sweetheart, the doctor passed it to me when one of the paramedics handed it to him.” Horatio said as he handed her the inhaler. She quickly took it and looked up at Ryan, shyly.  
“Thank you.” She said softly, looking back round to Horatio as she placed it in her pocket. Horatio gave her a reassuring smile.   
“Are you going to be okay in there, Zoë?” Ryan asked softly.  
“Yeah” she said with a smile but was herself worrying a little; she’d not been in the hospital and conscious of x-rays being taken lately. Horatio noted the hesitation in her voice.   
“Are you sure?” Horatio asked.   
“Yes.” She said sounding more sure of herself. They gave their slips to the radiologist. Horatio was called in first and then came back out when Zoë was called in. She walked in and then came back out.   
“Okay?” They both asked.   
“Yes.” She said with a small smile, assuring them. They headed back to the cubicles.   
“I didn’t hurt you too much, did I Horatio?” Zoë asked, still worrying about when she was on him.   
“No, you’re light. It was that table that did the damage.” Horatio said softly.   
“But the table was pushing me down on you.” Zoë said looking over to him.  
“Yes, it was the table that hurt, not you.” Horatio said, hoping to give her some reassurance.   
“Don’t worry about it sweetheart, I’m just a little stiff. No real harm done. Okay?” He said looking at her, seeing the unease in her eyes. She swallowed and nodded at him. Still feeling bad about it.   
“Who has a dining table that big anyway?” She asked, trying to lighten the situation.   
“I don’t know, but I’m almost certain that the table weighed more than you…” Horatio said with a small smile.   
“I’m sure that it weighed more than you too, it was huge.” Zoë said with a small smile. They parted ways into their cubicles.   
Nathan came back in to Zoë’s cubical.   
“You’ve got a small hairline fracture of your wrist; I’m going to have to put you in a cast.” He said as Ryan stepped closer to hear the verdict.   
“No–” Zoë said as Horatio walked in with his little finger strapped up, she forgot what she was saying as she looked down at his hand.   
“Just a small fracture” Horatio said softly, seeing her stare at his hand. “No lasting damage.” Horatio added, hoping to put her mind at ease. ‘I think I should have taken those painkillers when I had the chance.’ Horatio thought to himself as the pain in his legs only increased.   
“You need a plaster cast Zoë.” Nathan said turning the attention back to her.   
“No, I’ll have an aircast. That way, I can easily work and it doesn’t smell.” Zoë said looking at him. “My insurance covers it.” She said with a smile.   
“Okay, I can set you up with that, I’ll be right back.” Nathan said as he walked out.  
“An aircast?” Horatio asked her.  
“Yeah, it’s not a plaster cast, but it still supports the wrist like a normal cast but I can shower with it easily. It’s also easier to work with.” Zoë said with a smile.  
“Okay… what is it though?” Ryan asked crossing his arms, not hearing of it before.  
“It’s a plastic frame with two airbags within the plastic frame, air is put into the bag and it keeps my wrist stable. I can also take it off to clean it and clean my arm, so you don’t get that smell you get with those plaster casts.” She said with a smile.  
“Oh, okay.” Ryan said imagining the cast.   
“You’re sure you can work with this?” Horatio asked.   
“Positive.” She said with a smile.   
“Okay, if Nathan gives you the all clear, then we’re good to go.” Horatio said softly with a small smile. ‘I’m not happy that this has happened, but hopefully it will keep her off work for a while, at least then she’s out of harm’s way.’ Horatio thought to himself.   
“Are you free to go?” Zoë questioned.   
“Yes.” Horatio said with a smile.   
“Are you sure you’re okay Horatio?” Zoë asked curiously, seeing a slither of pain in his eyes.   
“Yes, I’m fine. It just hurts a little.” Horatio said, knowing she saw the pain.   
“Then why didn’t you take those painkillers? I heard you refuse them.” Zoë said, looking up at him.   
“Most likely for the same reason why you refused them too” he said, looking at her.   
She looked down at the bed and smiled a little.  
“Yes, but you look to be in a little bit more pain.” She said, looking back up at him.   
“It’s not too bad, I’ll be fine.” Horatio said with a reassuring smile.   
Nathan walked back in with the aircast.   
“Okay, just sit on the bed for me please Zoë.” Nathan said as he sat on the edge. He placed it around her wrist and pumped the air into the bag.  
“Nathan, will you please tell them that I’m fine to work with this.” She said with a smile. He finished pumping it up and placed the pump next to her.   
“She can work with it, she can drive with it, she can shower with it, she can swim with it, she can do most things with it… she just needs to be aware of it.” Nathan said raising his eyebrow at her.   
“I take it that you’ve had one of these before then?” Nathan asked her. She gave him a nod.  
Horatio’s hopes for her to be off work were shattered.  
“Thank you Nathan.” She said as she hopped off the bed, taking the pump with her.   
“You’re free to go, but you have an appointment with the ortho’s in couple of weeks’ time, you’ll have catch up appointments from then on. Just be careful with it, here’s a prescription for some stronger pain killers, should you need them.” Nathan said handing her a slip, then did the same with Horatio. “You both need to come back and have your dressings changed, unless you can get Alexx to do them?” Nathan questioned.   
“I’m sure Alexx will be fine with that, and I’m sure I can do it anyway.” Zoë said with a smile.   
“What makes you so sure?” Nathan questioned intrigued.   
“I’ve got all of the bandages and dressings at home.” She said looking at him.   
“Doesn’t mean you can dress them though, does it?” Nathan said giving her a small smile.  
“I’m a first aid responder, I think I can handle a few cuts and bruises…” She said looking at him like he was stupid. ‘I swear he knew that?’ She questioned.  
“I see, then why do you question everything I do and go against my wishes?” Nathan asked crossing his arms.  
“Because I’m difficult” she said with a small smile.   
“You can say that again.” He said with a smile uncrossing his arms.   
“I can guarantee that if you were brought into hospital, you’d be just as difficult. Doctors are the worst at being treated.” She said to him with a smile.   
“Hmm…” He raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she was probably right.   
“Thank you Nathan.” She said softly as she shook his hand gingerly with her right. Ryan and Horatio both said thank you and shook his hand too, Nathan nodded at them and they slowly walked out to Ryan’s hummer.  
“I’m going to drive you back to your hummers, are you sure both of you are okay to drive?”   
“Yes.” They both said as they got into the hummer.   
Ryan drove them over to the collapsed house where they got a good look at it just as it was getting dark.  
“Ryan, did you get my kit? There was some evidence in there, which could be key to the case.”   
“Yep, we got it; Eric took it back to the lab.” Horatio rang Eric he said that he’d fill him in tomorrow at work. Eric stayed at work and Ryan went back to help him while Horatio and Zoë went home after a long day. They both got into their beds, after having a shower and something to eat, and then after relaxing. They rang each other to make sure they were okay.   
The next day they returned to work.   
Eric had told them that the house was rigged; he went back after they were taken to the hospital and found 8 bombs that had been placed in the structure of the house to bring it down. He also found Mason’s print on the pill bottle that Zoë had found.   
“Thank you Eric, Mason is still in prison, is he not?” Horatio asked looking at the pot.  
“Yeah, I phoned the prison and he’s accounted for.”   
“This is linked to Ratner.” Zoë said leaning on the table.   
“Well, Alexx said that she found defensive wounds on the husband and wife, she says that she thinks that they were forced the pill.” Ryan added as he leant on the table too.   
“So how would Ratner fit in to this?” Eric asked.   
“Ratner planted that pill pot with Mason’s print on it, to send a message, I’m willing to bet that those bombs are also harbouring prints of our bomber and that he’s connected to Ratner.”   
Zoë’s phone beeped telling her she had a voicemail.   
‘Why won’t you just die?’ The voice said as she listened to it.   
“It’s Ratner.” She said as she placed it on the table and played it out loud. They all heard the message. Horatio’s phone then beeped and he listened to his.  
‘Actually, I guess you’re quite lucky that you both survived, I’ve got a better plan for you both. Hahaha.’ The voice said.   
“I’ve got one too.” Horatio said placing his phone on the table. They all heard it.   
“I’m going to go over the messages and find out everything I can. Can I take your phone, Horatio?” She asked.   
“Certainly” He said with a small smile. Zoë then picked their phones up and got to work.   
They all caught up a few hours later.   
“Have we got anything?” Horatio asked.   
“I can’t find anything on either of the messages.” Zoë said as she handed his phone back to him.   
“I’ve got nothing.” Eric said as he leant on the table.   
“Neither. There are no prints on the bombs and no known signature that we’ve seen before, we’ve got nothing H.”   
“Okay, patience ladies and gentlemen… patience.” Horatio said as he walked out and back over to his office. Zoë cleared up her desk and looked over her notes for anything that could relate to his whereabouts. She couldn’t find anything. She walked over to Horatio’s office and he invited her in. She sat down.   
“Horatio, what are we going to do? He’s planning something…”   
“Zoë, we’re… we’re not going to let him get the chance to plan anything.” Horatio said looking at her softly.   
“We’ve got nothing Horatio.” She said leaning forward on his desk.   
“We’ll get something, he’s got people working for him, and they’re bound to leave a trace, we just need to find where.” He said softly leaning forward, meeting her gaze. She then looked off into the distance and began thinking.   
“Got something?” He questioned seeing her think.  
“No…” She said still thinking, a small smile appeared across her face.  
“Thank you Horatio.” She said as she looked back to him.   
“For what? What were you thinking about?” Horatio questioned intrigued.   
“You’ll find out when the time is right.” She said as she stood up.   
“I’ll see you soon handsome.” She said as she straightened her top out.   
“Where are you going? What have you got in mind?” He asked curious, he knew she had thought of something.   
“You’ll see honey, I’ve just got to do something. Trust me handsome.” She said with a smile as she walked out.  
“I do…” He said as she walked out. She went to look for Ryan, she found him in the lab.   
“Ryan, I need you for a moment please.” Ryan walked out. Zoë walked away gesturing him to follow her. They stood in the corner of the hall and quietly spoke to each other. 8 minutes later they walked back into the lab.   
“Eric, would you mind accompanying me to the scene again, we may have missed something.” Zoë said as Eric gave her a nod. Zoë and Eric went to the scene and began looking again, they visualised where the bombs were placed and then Horatio rang Zoë.   
“Zoë” she said as she looked around.   
“Zoë, it’s Horatio, where are you?” He asked.   
“We’ve just come back out to the scene.” Zoë said picking up a bit of debris.  
“All 3 of you?” Horatio asked.   
“No, just me and Eric” she said as she found what looked to be a sim card.  
“Hold on Horatio.” She said as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder.  
“Eric, I’ve got a sim card.” She said as she held it in the tweezers.   
“I’ll get it to trace.” Eric said as she handed it to him. He bagged it.  
“Sorry Horatio.” She said as she apologised to him.   
“Not a problem, got something?” He asked.   
“Yeah, I found a sim card.” She said as she followed Eric back to the hummer.   
“Okay, get it back here.” Horatio said softly.  
“We’re on it.” She said as she made her way to the hummer.  
“Do you know where Mr Wolfe is?” Horatio asked.   
“No, sorry Horatio” she said as she got into the hummer.   
“Okay, not to worry. I’ll see you back here.” Horatio said.  
“See you there.” She said as they hung up.   
“That H?” Eric asked.  
“Yeah” She said softly as they began to drive off.   
Ryan got back to the lab, Eric and Zoë weren’t long after.  
“I’m going to see what I can find.” Eric said as he headed off.   
“Okay Delko.” She replied as Ryan walked up to her.   
“Got something?” He asked.   
“Yeah, we found a sim card, could lead us to the bomber.” She said with her hands on her hips.  
“Yeah?” Ryan asked.   
“Yeah” She said with a nod.   
“I’ll er… see you soon then.” Ryan said as he went to walk away and she gave him a nod. Zoë went to find Eric as Horatio walked past the lab and glanced around, giving them both a nod and smile, happy to see the both of them working closely.  
He went back to his office to look over the notes the team had made.   
“Eric, I’ve got to nip out quickly, I’ll be back soon.” She said as she walked out.   
20 minutes later Zoë and Ryan came back up and walked out of the lift, giving each other a smile. Zoë went back into the lab where Eric was working.   
“Got anything?” She asked.  
“No, the sim was from the husband’s phone, it wasn’t used to detonate the bombs.” He said as he lent on the table.  
“We’ll get him, don’t worry.” She said as she walked out and walked up to Horatio’s office, he invited her in.  
“Eric didn’t get anything on the sim, it belonged to the husband.” She said as she sat down and sighed.  
“We’ll get something, don’t worry.” Horatio said with a reassuring smile, she looked up at him and gave him a smile.  
“Are you going to tell me what you were thinking about earlier then?” He asked with a smile.  
“All in good time, patience is a virtue.” She said with a cheeky smile. “Just trust me handsome.” She said with a smile, reassuring him.   
“Okay, I trust you.” He said with a smile leaning on his desk. He thought back to earlier that morning, she could see him thinking.   
“What are you thinking about?” She asked.   
“About this morning” he said with a smile.   
“What about it?” She asked intrigued.   
“Well, you started to smile and then said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ When I asked what you were talking about and whether you were going to share it with me you said ‘Believe me honey, we’re already sharing it.’ I’m still just a little confused.” He said with a small curious smile. She began to chuckle a little and flushed bright red.   
“Honey, you probably don’t want to know.” She said with a massive smile.   
“Well I do want to know, so are you going to at least share that with me?” He asked seeing her bright red. She laughed a little more and then leaned on his desk.   
“You really want to know?” She said with a massive grin, still flushing red.  
“I do indeed.” He said leaning in.   
She lowered her voice. “Well, we had moved a little to try and get comfortable… moving made you...” She began as she then looked down at his crotch then back up to him. “move against me...” She said looking down at her lap. “Causing me to have some… feelings… is the best way to put it.” She said bright red with a grin, half embarrassed. Horatio began to chuckle as he leant back in his chair. He smiled at her with a boyish grin then leaned forward again.   
“Is that so?” He said quietly.   
“It is.” She said leaning forward. “Well, thank you for sharing with me.” He said raising his eyebrows.   
“Is the interrogation over?” She said with a smile.   
“I think so, I shall see you soon.” He said softly. She gave him a smile and a nod. She stood up and began to turn when she saw Horatio studying her.   
“What?” She asked curiously.  
“There’s something different about you…” He said looking at her.  
“Yeah, is it my shirt?” She questioned.   
“Yes, that’s it. It’s long sleeved.” Horatio said sitting back.   
“Yes, I can’t really be walking around with bandaged, cut and bruised arms, can I?” She said raising an eyebrow.   
“No, I guess not.” He said looking at her with a smile.   
“I usually wear them in the winter.” She said with a smile. “Anyway, I thought this interrogation was over.” She added.   
“It is, you’re free to go.” He said with a smile as she nodded at him. He watched her walk out and smiled to himself.   
They didn’t find anything else on the case and it had to be closed about a week after. They were all frustrated that it was closed, but couldn’t find anything else to keep it open.   
‘This is just the beginning, I know it.’ Zoë thought to herself.


End file.
